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Bangladeshi president declares state of emergency
12/1/2007 9:59

Bangladeshi President Iajuddin Ahmed, who is also chief adviser (CA) of the caretaker government, last night declared state of emergency in the country ahead of January 22 elections in the face of agitation program declared by a major political camp boycotting the election.

A notification declaring the emergency also asked people to remain indoor from 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m.. But the notification didn't say whether the election will be held on schedule or not and the political observers here were unsure if the election could be held with the state of emergency.

Former main opposition Awami League-led grand alliance Wednesday announced siege of the president house from January 14, countrywide blockade on January 14-15 and 17-18 that will restrict traffic movement in the country. The agitation program also included general strike on January 21-22.

Awami League President Sheikh Hasina said the general strike will be nonstop if the election is not canceled.

Hasina announced the agitation program from public meeting in capital Dhaka, demanding resignation of CA Iajuddin Ahmed, alleging that he failed to create a conducive environment for a clean and credible election.

Hasina, 61, also a former prime minister of Bangladesh, also demanded cancellation of the election schedule, corrected voter list and reconstitution of the Election Commission (EC) which the alliance leaders allege is controlled by those loyal to the immediate past ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of former prime minister Khaleda Zia.

Hasina said they will resist the election at all costs, but Ziaasked people to resist those who were calling to stop the election.

The grand alliance also accused Iajuddin Ahmed, 76, a retired university teacher turned politician after he was chosen as president by BNP, was acting with dictates of BNP and his position as CA violated the constitution.

Bangladeshi constitution since 1996 stipulates that a non-party neutral caretaker government will organize the national election within 90 days after taking office.

Iajuddin Ahmed named himself CA on October 29 as the BNP government's five year term ran out on October 27.

Hasina said according to the constitution, the voter list should be published, but the caretaker government announced the election schedule without publishing a corrected voter list. She also said that under Iajuddin Ahmed, no election will be free, fair and credible.

"So Iajuddin should go and another neutral caretaker government should be in place to hold a clean election," she said.

The grand alliance had submitted nomination papers to contest the election on December 26, but later they withdrew their candidature, saying they will boycott the election unless a conducive environment for a clean and credible election is created.

Meanwhile, The donor countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, and the European Union for the last few days have been saying that the "one sided" election will not be acceptable to them. They were asking the caretaker government to hold the election with participation of all major parties.

They also said they will not send any election watchdog team to oversee the election as not all the major parties participating in the election.

U.S.-based National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the International Republican Institute will not observe the Bangladeshi election as some major parties are not in the race.

The United Nations on Thursday said it suspended all its activities in connection with Bangladeshi election.

U.S. State Department Under Secretary Nicolas Burns on January 6 telephoned President and CA Iajuddin Ahmed and asked him to take steps so that all major political camps can join the election.

The president told him that the caretaker government will hold the election within 90 days in line with the constitution.

The leaders of four-party alliance led by BNP has been saying that the election must be held within 90 days specified by the constitution.



Xinhua