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| Bangladesh |
| Awami League to contest Bangladesh elections |
| 2007-01-15 |
| Bangladesh’s grand political alliance led by the powerful Awami League will contest parliamentary elections, a top leader said on Sunday, days after the president met its demands and postponed the disputed ballot. The alliance had boycotted the polls saying the president, as head of an interim administration, was favouring its rivals. It wanted the polls to be delayed and voters’ lists updated to ensure a free and fair election, which had been set for Jan 22. “We have decided to participate in the elections,” Awami League general-secretary Abdul Jalil told Reuters in an interview. “This present caretaker government has to go ahead with the preparation of the Election Commission, voters’ list ... then we are ready to participate at any moment.” The decision by the alliance came two days after it called off plans for new blockades and strikes in the poor South Asian country after President Iajuddin Ahmed gave in to mounting pressure and stepped down as head of an interim government tasked with holding the polls. Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s newly installed interim government met for the first time Sunday to begin work on steering the country out of a state of emergency and into free and fair elections. New interim government chief Fakhruddin Ahmed is tasked with finding an exit from a political crisis that has left dozens dead and paralysed the already impoverished country since the outgoing government stepped down last October. |
| Posted by:Fred |