Campaigning has begun in Bangladeshs upcoming general elections – the first in seven years -, with the interim military-backed government lifting all restrictions on political rallies, BBC online reports Friday.
The main contestants are the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of Khaleda Zia and the Awami League of Sheikh Hasina, both former prime ministers. The interim government will fully lift a state of emergency next Wednesday, ahead of the elections on Monday 29 December. Bangladesh has been under emergency rule since January 2007.
Meanwhile, a research group has said that Bangladeshs political future remains “complex and fragile”. The Brussels-based International Crisis Group said that the countrys powerful military may not be ready to bow out of politics.
Two years ago, elections in Bangladesh were cancelled amid accusations of fraud and after weeks of street violence. The army stepped in to restore order, backed an interim government and had dozens of leading politicians jailed for corruption.
The interim government has taken the names of more than 1,2 million fake voters off the electoral roll, and the army will soon be deployed to make sure there is none of the violence and intimidation that have scarred previous elections.
