In Bangladesh, the month of January ended with the horrific assassination of former finance minister Sham AMS Kibria, which was followed by the postponement of the 13th Saarc summit.

It was a grim note on which to start the year and the year has ended on a note of challenge as well.

2005 will be remembered in Bangladesh as the year in which terrorism moved from the margins to the centre of our lives. The divide between the government and the opposition on this matter remains deep, and with each side blaming the other, there is no political solution on the cards.

Nor is there much light to be seen in the overall political picture, which seems stuck on stalemate and deadlock, with both sides behaving as though they were ruling out compromise and settling in for further confrontation.

Thus we are entering the election year of 2006 with some trepidation.

However, it must be said that, in spite of everything, there were several positive things about 2005 and that there are reasons for optimism as we enter the new year.

Investment in the country is up, and a recent report from a top global investment bank has identified Bangladesh as one of the emerging economies to watch. The RMG sector held firm despite the end of the MFA era, and in fact total exports were $1 billion more than last year. Remittances from abroad are up as the migrant workers continue to be the economy's unsung heroes, and the economy continues to grow at a steady clip.

So despite all the odds, Bangladesh continues to advance.

As 2006 starts, it becomes clear that the main problem we face as a nation is lack of unity, especially between the government and the opposition. This sends precisely the wrong message, both inside the country to those who would seek to exploit such divisions, and outside the country as well. The cost to the nation from this kind of divisiveness is potentially catastrophic. The key is in the hands of the politicians, and our new year's plea to them is, for the good of the nation, to find some common ground.