Rival activists fought each other with guns and home-made bombs in the Bangladeshi capital yesterday as thousands rallied to demand the resignation of election officials ahead of next month's polls, witnesses said.
At least two people were injured during the clashes at a Dhaka University campus. The clashes occurred between supporters of former prime minister Khaleda Zia and her archrival, Sheikh Hasina -- the head of a 14-party alliance.
The violence started after Zia's student supporters tried to prevent members of Hasina's alliance from taking part in rallies near the official house of President Iajuddin Ahmed.
The scene of the clashes was blocks away from central Dhaka, where thousands of protesters rallied to demand the resignation of election officials, despite an interim government renewing efforts to end the political impasse.
The protesters are from an alliance of 14 political parties that has accused the country's five election officials of bias in favor of Zia.
Sheikh Hasina, who is also a former prime minister, has rejected the Jan. 21 date for the elections, demanding that voter rolls she alleges are flawed be corrected before polls are held.
The demonstrators planned to stage a sit-in outside Ahmen's official house. But barbed-wire barricades manned by security forces kept them blocks away.
Ahmed is heading the interim government after Zia constitutionally transferred power after completing her five-year term in office on Oct. 29.
The protesters have accused Ahmed of failing to prove that he would remain neutral through the polls to elect a new parliament.
Streets around the president's office were closed to traffic. The closures caused huge traffic snarls in other parts of the city of 10 million people.
The political standoff has provoked international concern.
Hasina's alliance has threatened another nationwide transport shutdown if her demands are not met by tomorrow.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
RSS