Bangladesh polls to go ahead depite Hasina boycott
DHAKA, Jan 4 (Reuters) Bangladesh will go ahead with planned parliamentary elections later this month despite a decision by a mainstream political alliance to boycott it, election officials said today.
The election is set for January 22, but the multi-party alliance led by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday decided to boycott the vote, accusing the interim government charged with organising the polls of favouring her opponents.
Two other parties also announced a boycott: the Jatiya Party of former army ruler Hossain Mohammad Ershad and the Liberal Democratic Party of former president A Q M Badruddoza Chowdhury.
The immediate past prime minister, Begum Khaleda Zia, launched a full-scale election campaign today outside the capital Dhaka, unfazed by the boycott threat that diplomats and analysts said could plunge Bangladesh into greater uncertainty and chaos.
Businessmen feared that political turmoil in the country of 140 million people could derail an economy that is projected to grow 7 per cent in the year to June 2007.
''We have no alternatives to holding of the elections on the due date because of constitutional bindings,'' an election commission official said today.
The constitution stipulates that Bangladesh must have new elections within three months after Khaleda ended her five-year tenure as prime minister in late October and handed power to the interim government headed by President Iajuddin Ahmed.
PROTESTS AND BLOCKADE Hasina and her allies said Iajuddin must resign as caretaker chief because he had failed to act neutrally or implement the electoral reforms they had asked for to make the polls free and impartial.
Hasina wanted Iajuddin to sack key election officials whom she accuses of favouring Khaleda and her Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in the elections. She also wanted the list of registered voters overhauled to remove fraudulent names.
Hasina's Awami League and allies have called for a countrywide protest on Thursday and a two-day transport blockade from January 7 to pile pressure on Iajuddin to quit.
The president showed no sign of bending, and the BNP and its ally Jamaat-e-Islami urged him to act firmly to put down attempts to foil the elections.
They warned Hasina would be held responsible if the country faced any constitutional crisis.
Hasina said the commission could seek permission from the Supreme Court to extend the time for an election, without violating the constitution.
Diplomats, who had shuttled between rival political parties to help resolve their disputes, today expressed dismay over the boycott plan.
''We are disappointed by the announcement that the Awami League and its partners in the grand alliance intend to boycott this month's elections,'' a US embassy spokesman said.
''We note this decision is an apparent reversal of their previous commitment to participate (in the polls). We urge them to reconsider,'' the spokesman added.
''The
US
continues
to
believe
that
participation
of
all
major
parties
is
a
necessary
element
for
free,
fair
and
credible
elections.''
A
spokesperson
for
the
British
High
Commission
said:
''We
are
concerned
by
the
prospect
of
violence
(in
the
run
up
to
the
coming
polls)
and
therefore
hope
a
way
forward
can
be
found
that
will
allow
participation
of
all
political
parties
in
the
election.''
REUTERS
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