Dhaka: Bangladesh poll authority on Monday deferred the date for next month’s general elections by a week to December 30, a day after the country’s main opposition alliance demanded delaying the polls by a month, an official said.
Last week, Bangladesh Election Commission said that the general election will be held on December 23.
Bangladesh’s main opposition BNP, led by imprisoned ex-premier Khaleda Zia, on Sunday said it would participate in the general election next month, after it boycotted the 2014 polls that returned Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League to power due to fears of rigging.
“The 11th general election will be held across Bangladesh on December 30,” Chief Election Commissioner Nurul Huda announced responding to the newly formed National Unity Front (NUF) with jailed former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) being its key partner.
He said the five-member commission decided to reschedule the polls as the NUF proposal “is reassuring to the commission” about their participation in the polls, a dilemma that gripped the nation for months exposing the country’s political course to a state of uncertainty.
“Despite extreme adverse situation Jatiya Oikya Front (NUF) has decided to take part in the election as part of our movement to restore democracy,” convenor of the platform and prominent lawyer Kamal Hossain announced on Sunday.
He, however, added that the Election Commission must defer the polls schedule by one month and “we will announce our decision later unless the demand is met” while BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said the decision was “part of our movement”.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina immediately welcomed the NUF’s decision saying their “decision will strengthen the democracy… we will jointly contest in the poll to reflect the verdict of the people”. (PTI)
