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Bangladesh poll chief rules out delaying election

21 Dec 2006 17:57:00 GMT
Source: Reuters

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Activists pelt stones at police during a general strike in Dhaka December 21,2006. Troops and riot police fought pitched battles with protesters on Thursday as a strike aimed at forcing electoral reforms in Bangladesh turned violent.
REUTERS/STR/BANGLADESH

(Recasts with poll chief ruling out delay, adds quotes)

By Anis Ahmed

DHAKA, Dec 21 (Reuters) - The head of Bangladesh's Election Commission on Thursday rejected opposition demands for a delay to parliamentary elections set for next month, as protests in support of electoral reforms turned violent.

"Is Bangladesh facing a disaster like tsunami, earthquake or a cyclone, which could have warranted such a delay?" asked Mahfuzur Rahman, acting chief election commissioner.

"Unless there is such an emergency on hand to tackle, I don't see any possibility of pushing the election behind schedule," he told reporters. The impoverished south Asian country is regularly hit by storms and floods.

Rahman's remarks appeared to be a final rejection of demands by a 14-party alliance led by Sheikh Hasina, chief of Awami League, that the election set for Jan. 22 be delayed until reforms are implemented. Hasina says they are vital to ensure a free and fair poll.

Thursday's dawn-to-dusk strike, the latest of a series, largely paralysed transport, ports, business and schools. Activists barricaded roads and halted trains, and more than 100 people were injured in clashes between protesters and police.

In Dhaka, troops in armoured cars patrolled the streets, chasing down protesters and rounding them up. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at activists who had set a police car ablaze in the Shyamoli residential area, witnesses said.

The strike was called by Hasina's alliance to press the interim government to implement reforms ahead of the election.

Alliance leaders vowed more protests in the coming weeks.

HOPE FOR CREDIBLE ELECTION

Hasina has asked for a delay to allow time for campaigning, to prepare a "flawless" voter list and to issue voter identity cards.

Her alliance wants the removal of election commissioners she accuses of bias towards her rival Begum Khaleda Zia, and the resignation of President Iajuddin Ahmed, head of the caretaker government, who she says has failed to act independently.

"A congenial atmosphere for a free and fair election does not exist in the country now," Hasina told European Union officials on Wednesday.

She rejected as insufficient a government move to send on leave one of the election commissioners she accuses of bias.

Khaleda, who ended her five-year term as prime minister on October 29 and handed power to the interim authority, rejects the idea of any delay in the election.

She accuses Hasina of "plotting to push the country into a constitutional crisis, destroy democracy and ruin the economy".

Bangladesh's constitution requires elections to be held within three months of the expiry of the tenure of a government.

A European Union mission observing pre-election conditions in Bangladesh on Thursday said there was still hope for a credible election next month.

"I believe if all political parties ... work responsibly towards a genuine election, there is still hope for the reflection of the people's will," mission chief Alexander Graf Lambsdorff told a news conference. (Additional reporting by Nizam Ahmed and Masud Karim)

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