B’desh polls may be delayed: EC

DHAKA: Bangladesh’s January 5 general election could be postponed to accommodate Opposition parties that are threatening to boycott the polls, the election commission said on Wednesday.
“If there is consensus among the parties, the election date can be delayed to another date to make sure that all parties can participate in the polls,” election commissioner Md Shahnawaz said.
BNP’s 48-hr blockade: Meanwhile, two more persons have been killed in fresh violence that rocked cities across Bangladesh taking the death toll to 11, as a 48-hour nationwide blockade enforced by the main opposition BNP entered its second day on Wednesday.
The Awami League and BNP are at loggerheads over the system for conducting the polls.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has formed a multi-party interim set-up while the BNP wants elections under a non-party interim government.
The opposition led by BNP is demanding that the polls scheduled for January 5 should be shelved until the dispute over the poll-time government is settled. Police said an activist of Jamaat-e-Islami, a crucial BNP ally, died in pre-dawn clashes with paramilitary BGB troops in southwestern Satkhira, where the Jamaat workers allegedly hacked to death two workers of ruling Awami League on Tuesday. (Agencies)