Bangladesh polls to be held on 5 January
27 Nov 2013 4:21 AM IST
Bangladesh’s poll panel on Monday announced that the general election would be held on 5 January, triggering protests by activists of the main opposition BNP which called a 48-hour nationwide transport blockade from Tuesday.
‘The voting will be held on 5 January 2014,’ Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed said.
The announcement came amidst a tense standoff between the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party over the system for conducting the polls.
Immediately after the announcement, opposition activists torched vehicles and exploded crude bombs at several places, prompting authorities to call out the paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) in Dhaka, Bogra and Sylhet.
The BNP will enforce a 48-hour nationwide blockade for railways, waterways and highways from tomorrow morning, a party spokesperson said. TV news channels reported the BNP had decided to reject the election schedule.
Authorities put in place tight security in the capital to contain a backlash by the BNP, which is spearheading a campaign for polls under a non-party interim government.
The polls will be overseen by a multi-party caretaker set-up formed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina but the BNP has claimed that elections under her watch will not be credible.
Ahmed said the Election Commission, a statutory independent body, had waited for the two major parties to reach an understanding on the electoral system ‘but now we don’t have time to delay further’.
The poll panel, he said, was obligated to hold the election by January 24, 2014 under a constitutional deadline.
‘We repeatedly urged the major parties to reach a consensus to fulfil the nation’s expectations.
‘The voting will be held on 5 January 2014,’ Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmed said.
The announcement came amidst a tense standoff between the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party over the system for conducting the polls.
Immediately after the announcement, opposition activists torched vehicles and exploded crude bombs at several places, prompting authorities to call out the paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) in Dhaka, Bogra and Sylhet.
The BNP will enforce a 48-hour nationwide blockade for railways, waterways and highways from tomorrow morning, a party spokesperson said. TV news channels reported the BNP had decided to reject the election schedule.
Authorities put in place tight security in the capital to contain a backlash by the BNP, which is spearheading a campaign for polls under a non-party interim government.
The polls will be overseen by a multi-party caretaker set-up formed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina but the BNP has claimed that elections under her watch will not be credible.
Ahmed said the Election Commission, a statutory independent body, had waited for the two major parties to reach an understanding on the electoral system ‘but now we don’t have time to delay further’.
The poll panel, he said, was obligated to hold the election by January 24, 2014 under a constitutional deadline.
‘We repeatedly urged the major parties to reach a consensus to fulfil the nation’s expectations.
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