Three days of violent protests have exposed a deep-rooted mistrust between Bangladesh's main parties that threatens to wreck the young democracy's Jan. 22 election and paralyze the nation for months, analysts say.
For the third straight day on Tuesday, Dhaka saw running clashes as protesters hurled bombs and rocks at riot police who hit back with tear gas and rubber bullets. The searing divide is nothing new to Bangladesh.
Although democracy was restored in 1991, both major parties have regularly boycotted parliament and staged national strikes as a negotiating tactic when in opposition.
But the latest unrest has left the impoverished nation facing a variety of unpalatable scenarios ranging from incomplete or delayed elections to a state of emergency.
The parties' two female leaders -- Sheikh Hasina Wajed of the main opposition Awami League and Khaleda Zia of the outgoing governing Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) -- are said to loathe each other.
After months of strikes and protests, the Awami League says it will boycott the elections and is demanding revisions to the voter list that could take up to two years to complete.
It says the changes are needed to remove 14 million ghost voters from the list compiled by the BNP-appointed election commission, which the League says has sought to rig the polls.
"The mistrust comes from a long history of mutual antagonism, but the difference now is that the stakes are just so high," said Zafar Sobhan, a columnist with the leading Daily Star newspaper.
Politics in Bangladesh, ranked one of the world's most corrupt nations, is widely regarded as a passport to wealth.
The benefits of huge development contracts and other deals are reported to trickle down to activists at all levels of the ruling party -- but not to the more than 70 million people living below the poverty line.
"Losing an election in Bangladesh is always a devastating proposition and this one in particular because of the way recently everything has become politicized, neither side can afford to lose," Sobhan said.
An interim government, which the opposition claims is biased, took over in late October and constitutionally must hold free and fair elections within 90 days.
The head of the temporary administration, President Iajuddin Ahmed, insists the elections must be held on schedule, but the political impasse and street violence have raised fears of a possible state of emergency or even a military takeover.
The country, formally known as East Pakistan, has a history of coups and counter coups since winning independence in 1971.
"The constitution does not leave any room for an election delay. But since it is an extraordinary situation, the president can ask the Supreme Court to decide whether the election can be deferred," said Asif Nazrul, professor of law at Dhaka university.
"The BNP would not be able to run the country with continuing Awami League opposition, and so they may agree to this," said Golam Hossain, professor of government and politics at Dhaka's Jahangir Nagar Univerisity.
"The Awami League could shut down the country otherwise. I think this is the best option, because even if the Supreme Court agreed to defer the elections it will not be possible to draw up a new voter list in one month," he said.
Hossain said that without a negotiated settlement, the Muslim but secular country of 144 million would face months of chaos, with businesses continuing to lose millions each day.
"If it continues it is very clear things are going to get even tougher," he said.
But Ataur Rahman, professor of political science of Dhaka University, said he believed a state of emergency was the only way out.
"The Jan. 22 elections won't be accepted by anyone, so the only option for the government is now to declare an emergency and form an interim national government which will have representations from the parties, civil societies and even army," he said.
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