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.