Dhaka, Nov 15 (PTI) Bangladeshi authorities on Wednesday enforced a tight security vigil in the capital and other major cities after the Election Commission (EC) said it will announce the schedule for the next general elections later in the day amid continued unrest over the polls.
Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal will announce the full schedule of the 12th parliamentary elections at 7 PM, EC secretary Jahangir Alam told a press conference.
Asked if the EC thought the polls atmosphere was now favourable for the schedule, he said: “As we told you before, the required atmosphere exists”.
The development came amid mounting political tensions as the Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its far-right allies like the Jamaat-e-Islami have waged a street campaign demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government to allow a non-party interim government to conduct the general elections.
The ruling Awami League has rejected the demand, saying elections would be held under the incumbent premier Hasina, who also rejected proposals for dialogue with the Opposition by the US and other major Western countries, calling BNP a terrorist organisation.
Senior BNP leader Mahbubuddin Khokon said the Election Commission would have to shoulder responsibilities for any conflicting situation over the announcement of the polls schedule.
Police on Wednesday, however, warned of stern action against arson attacks or any such act of sabotage as the Opposition began the fifth phase of its nationwide transport blockade to spearhead its campaign against the Hasina-led government
“We have taken all steps to ensure security,” Dhaka’s police commissioner Habibur Rahman told newsmen.
Since October 28, the opposition parties have been enforcing transport blockades and clashing with police and rival activists in support of their demand.
The political violence in the last two weeks killed at least five people including a policeman. Over 200 people were wounded and dozens of vehicles, mostly empty buses, were damaged or set on fire during the protests, prompting authorities to deploy paramilitary troops to guard highways and maintain law and order in major cities.
According to media reports, some 8,000 opposition leaders and activists including BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir have been arrested in a nationwide crackdown.
The government leaders have said that the opposition leaders and activists were not arrested for political reasons, but for their involvement in “criminal activities”.
But, the BNP said the Awami League government has turned the country into a “big prison”.
Major Western countries, including the United States, have called for a political settlement ahead of elections through dialogue among three major parties – Awami League, BNP and Jatiya Party.
US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas on Monday sought meetings with leaders of the three parties to break the political impasse.
"The United States wants free and fair elections conducted in a peaceful manner and calls on all sides to eschew violence and exercise restraint," the embassy said in a media statement.