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| Bangladesh |
| Bangladesh rules out shortcut to elections |
| 2007-04-09 |
| Bangladesh’s army-backed interim government and Election Commission have both ruled out a short cut to parliamentary polls, despite expressions of impatience from leading politicians. “Politicians have freedom of expressing opinion on any matters, but we have a job to do,” said Sakhawat Hossain, a member of the election commission and a retired army brigadier-general. “We are trying to establish sustainable democracy in the country through a free and fair election. And we will take whatever time it requires,” he told reporters on Sunday. Mainul Husein, law and information adviser to the interim authority said the government was determined to take whatever steps necessary, with the help of the armed forces, to rid politics and administration of “corruption and criminalisation”. “We have no intention to delay the election deliberately,” he said. The officials were reacting to a warning from former prime minister Sheikh Hasina that people’s patience might run out if the election was delayed for too long. On Saturday, Hasina, now visiting the United States, called the interim authority headed by former central bank governor Fakhruddin Ahmed “undemocratic and unconstitutional”. |
| Posted by:Fred |