Bangladesh's ex-PM says election must be on schedule

DHAKA, Dec 19 (Reuters) Bangladesh's former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia drew tens of thousands of people to a rally in Dhaka today at which she asked the interim government to hold general elections next month as planned.

Her bitter rival Sheikh Hasina, also a former prime minister, threatened on Monday to boycott the polls if the government did not implement electoral reforms first.

''Go ahead with the elections as planned for January 22 ... to save democracy, the country and its constitution,'' Khaleda said at the rally, calling Hasina's demands ''unconstitutional and whimsical''.

''She (Hasina) is seeking to boycott the election only to create a constitutional crisis so that they can fish in troubled waters,'' Khaleda said.

Khaleda ended her five-year term as prime minister late in October and handed power to the caretaker authority charged to hold elections within three months.

Tens of thousands people streamed into the Bangladeshi capital on Tuesday in a show of support for the former prime minister.

The elite Rapid Action Battalion force guarded the Paltan public ground as thousands of Khaleda supporters arrived in buses and trains, many carrying banners and portraits of the leader.

The runup to the polls has been violent and tense with rival activists clashing almost daily. At least 44 people have been killed and hundreds injured since late October in protests over electoral reforms.

About 100 people were injured when rival student groups clashed at a college in Rangpur, 350 km north of Dhaka, on Tuesday. Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to quell the fighters, witnesses said.

Hasina who leads the Awami League and a 14-party alliance told a crowd of about 100,000 people yesterday that she would boycott the elections unless reforms were carried out to ensure a free and fair poll.

Witnesses said Khaleda's rally on Tuesday drew a similar number of people.

Hasina and her allies have been demanding the removal of elections officials she accuses of a bias towards Khaleda's party and an overhaul of the voters list.

She has also been demanding that President Ahmed resign as chief of the caretaker authority charged to hold elections for failing to show impartiality.

Diplomats said the stand-off was worrying.

''We are very much concerned ... The situation is critical and requires the political parties to make significant compromises in order to find a way forward,'' British High Commissioner Anwar Choudhury said in a statement.

The two women are the main contenders in the coming polls, after alternating as prime ministers of the impoverished country for the last 15 years.

REUTERS PDM PM1843