Thousands of candidates in Bangladesh's upcoming national election have withdrawn their nomination papers after opposition parties announced a boycott of the polls, officials said yesterday.
"Out of 4,146 candidates, 2,370 have withdrawn their nomination papers," said election commission official S.M. Asaduzzaman.
The candidates belonged to the main opposition Awami League and other opposition parties.
Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina Wajed on Wednesday announced a boycott of the Jan. 22 elections, saying the polls would not be fair.
The Awami League leads the opposition coalition of 14 parties.
Two other opposition parties also announced a boycott -- the Jatiya Party of former army ruler Hossain Mohammad Ershad and the Liberal Democratic Party of former president A.Q.M. Badruddoza Chowdhury.
The immediate past prime minister, Begum Khaleda Zia, launched a full-scale election campaign yesterday outside Dhaka, unfazed by the boycott threat that diplomats and analysts said could plunge Bangladesh into greater uncertainty and chaos.
Businessmen feared that political turmoil in the country of 140 million people could derail an economy that is projected to grow 7 percent in the year to June.
"We have no alternatives to holding of the elections on the due date because of Constitutional bindings," an election commission official said yesterday.
The Constitution stipulates that Bangladesh must have new elections within three months after Khaleda ended her five-year tenure as prime minister in late October and handed power to the interim government headed by President Iajuddin Ahmed.
Hasina and her allies said Iajuddin must resign as caretaker chief because he had failed to act neutrally or implement the electoral reforms they had asked for to make the polls free and impartial.
Hasina wanted Iajuddin to sack key election officials whom she accuses of favouring Khaleda and her Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in the elections. She also wanted the list of registered voters overhauled to remove fraudulent names.
Hasina's Awami League and allies called for a countrywide protest yesterday and a two-day transport blockade from Sunday to pile pressure on Iajuddin to quit.
The president showed no sign of bending, and the BNP and its ally Jamaat-e-Islami urged him to act firmly to put down attempts to foil the elections.
They warned Hasina would be held responsible if the country faced any constitutional crisis.
Hasina said the commission could seek permission from the Supreme Court to extend the time for an election, without violating the constitution.
Diplomats, who had shuttled between rival political parties to help resolve their disputes, expressed dismay yesterday over the boycott plan.
"We note this decision is an apparent reversal of their previous commitment to participate [in the polls]. We urge them to reconsider. The US continues to believe that participation of all major parties is a necessary element for free, fair and credible elections." a US embassy spokesman said.
A spokesperson for the British High Commission said: "We are concerned by the prospect of violence [in the run up to the coming polls] and therefore hope a way forward can be found that will allow participation of all political parties in the election."
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