Thousands of Bangladesh candidates withdraw poll nominations

BANGLADESH: Thousands of candidates in Bangladesh's upcoming national election have withdrawn their nomination papers after opposition parties announced a boycott of the polls, officials said.

"Out of 4,146 candidates, 2,370 have withdrawn their nomination papers," said election commission official S.M. Asaduzzaman.

The candidates belonged to the main opposition Awami League and other opposition parties.

Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina Wajed on Wednesday announced a boycott of the January 22 elections, saying the polls would not be fair.

The Awami League leads a 14-party coalition of opposition parties.

It has demanded a string of reforms which it says are necessary to ensure the elections are not tilted in favour of the outgoing Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). The coalition accuses the BNP of trying to rig the elections by appointing biased officials to key positions in the election commission and the interim government which has to organise the polls by the end of January.

The reforms demanded include revision of the voter list, changes to judiciary and intelligence agency chiefs, and the replacement of two election commissioners.

The Awami League and its allies have repeatedly brought the country to a standstill over the past year with dozens of protest strikes and blockades which have intensified since the BNP government stood down at the end of October to make way for the caretaker government and the polls.

At least 35 people have been killed in pre-election violence. Meanwhile Bangladesh faced a looming political crisis as its interim government said it would use the army to prevent protests by opposition parties, which are set to boycott polls due this month.

Home Ministry officials warned that the army would be deployed to prevent the opposition's planned national blockade on Sunday and Monday.

"No siege will be allowed" and the authorities would not protect those seeking to "defy the constitution", the official BSS news agency quoted a home ministry official as saying.

"Law enforcement agencies and the armed forces would be called out in aid of the civil administration to take control of the streets ahead of the siege to maintain order," the report added.

Officials and analysts said the country had reached a critical juncture after months of crippling and violent opposition protests. "We think we have reached a crucial point. What will be or will not be, but we want to have the elections by January 22," said Shaifqul Haque, a member of the interim government's advisory council, effectively the cabinet.

Under the Bangladesh constitution the caretaker government must hold the polls within 90 days of assuming power on October 29.

The Election Commission said 2,370 out of 4,146 candidates took back their nomination papers on Wednesday, hours before a deadline for withdrawals.

Most belonged to the main opposition Awami League and its 13 allies, which announced the boycott earlier on Wednesday.

"The country is approaching a zero hour of political crisis," said Golam Hossain, a professor of political science at Dhaka's Jahangir Nagar University.

"If the election takes place, the constitutional crisis will be resolved but the political crisis will still be there," he added.

The alliance of opposition parties has said it is more important for the elections to be seen as credible with all parties taking part than for them to be held on time.

The BNP, however, has rejected the allegations, saying the opposition has sensed defeat and is determined to sabotage the elections.

The reforms demanded by the opposition include a revision of the voter list, changes to judiciary and intelligence agency chiefs and the replacement of two election commissioners.

Dhaka, Friday, AFP