B'desh extends poll nominations to lure Hasina

Dhaka, Dec 24: Bangladesh's Election Commission has extended the deadline for candidate nominations by two days to try to lure a multi-party alliance led by Sheikh Hasina to participate in elections set for January 22, officials said.

This was the fourth time the commission had changed part of the election schedule, but it still refuses to change the actual voting day.

''We have done the best we can ... but cannot allow a further delay in the polling date because it would amount to violating the constitution,'' an election commission official said.

Hasina and her rival, Begum Khaleda Zia, are the main contenders for power in the coming polls. The two women have alternated as prime minister for the last 15 years.

Khaleda, the immediate past premier, handed power to an interim government headed by President Iajuddin Ahmed at the end of her five-year tenure late in October.

The interim authority is constitutionally obliged to hold elections within three months of the end of the term of the previous government.

REUTERS

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