A key political alliance on Wednesday announced a series of fresh street protests to demand national elections be postponed, as tens of thousands of troops fanned out across the country ahead of the January 22 polls. Sheikh Hasina, leader of a 19-party alliance, told a huge rally in the heart of the nation’s capital that it would start non-stop demonstrations around the presidential palace on January 14 and enforce a nationwide blockade on January 17-18 to force its demands. “If the government fails to meet our demands by then (January 18), we’ll enforce a non-stop general strike from January 21,” Hasina, a former prime minister, told thousands of supporters amid cheers in downtown Dhaka, walking distance from the presidential palace. “We are determined not to allow a one-sided election in the country,” said Hasina, adding that the “boycott of the election is aimed to preserve democracy and the people’s right to vote”.
She urged state officials and security forces “not to pitch themselves against the freedom and democracy-loving people by siding with the corrupt and dishonest politicians”.