Ex-Bangladesh PM Khaleda Zia willing to join a delayed election

by Sanjay Jha | November 20, 2008 at 10:36 pm

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With Bangladesh Election Commission extending the deadline for filing nominations for the December 18 polls by three days, fresh parleys have begun between the Army-backed government and ex-Premier Khaleda Zia's BNP which has threatened to boycott the exercise.

The Bangladesh election officials said the date for polls could remain the same but the deadline for filing nomination papers was being extended by three days as the previous last date expired "amid a tense political situation" yesterday when many intending candidates could not seek their candidature.

Bangladesh's former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has announced that her party and allies would join the December election if the poll was deferred by 10 days.

"We will definitely join the elections if they take place on Dec 28," Zia, who leads the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led four-party alliance, told a press conference on Thursday night.

She also asked the country's military-backed government to launch fresh round of talks to ensure participation of all the parties in the election to return the South Asian nation to democracy.

The interim administration Tuesday reaffirmed that it would hold parliamentary and local government elections according to schedule on Dec 18 and 28 respectively.

Zia, who gave the government a 48-hour deadline ending Wednesday night to meet her demands, asked for an atmosphere conductive for free and credible elections.