President Iajuddin Ahmed declared a state of emergency in Bangladesh on Thursday. Indefinite curfew has been imposed in the capital.
Updated at midnight
DHAKA: President Iajuddin Ahmed declared a state of emergency in Bangladesh on Thursday. Indefinite curfew has been imposed in the capital.
The United News of Bangladesh news agency said President Ahmed had stepped down as interim leader. "I have decided to resign as head of the caretaker government, to pave the way for an acceptable election in which all political parties can participate," the president said in a televised speech to the nation.
A presidential spokesman said elections had been postponed.
Bangladesh is a parliamentary democracy. The President is the head of state, a largely ceremonial post. The real power is held by the prime minister, who is the head of government.
The move came ahead of disputed elections on January 22, state television reported.
"The president professor Iajuddin Ahmed has declared state of emergency in the country and he will shortly address the nation through the Bangladesh Television and Bangladesh Radio," the state-owned BTV had said earlier.
Fortyfive people have been killed and hundreds injured in pre-election violence and police say they fear far worse to come ahead of polls that look increasingly untenable.
The interim caretaker government stood firm on Thursday in its pledge to hold the elections despite the boycott by a multi-party alliance headed by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina on grounds the ballot would not be free and impartial.
More than 200 people were injured in clashes with police during a three-day nationwide transport blockade earlier this week called by Hasina try to scuttle the poll she believes is designed to favour her enemy and past prime minister, Begum Khaleda Zia.
The violence has prompted the interim administration to call in the army to try to keep the peace but Hasina has continued to press for more strikes and blockades.
The United Nations said on Thursday it had suspended all technical support for the elections, while the European Commission said it had also decided to suspend its poll observation mission.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted the situation had deteriorated to the point that the US-based National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and the International Republican Institute were also refusing to monitor the elections.
“The political crisis in Bangladesh has severely jeopardised the legitimacy of the electoral process,” Ban said.
“The announced cancellation of numerous international observation missions is regrettable. The United Nations has had to suspend all technical support to the electoral process, including by closing its International Coordination Office for Election Observers in Dhaka,” Ban said. Ban urged the army to stay neutral.
The European Commission expressed deep regret over the political crisis.
“I am deeply disappointed that it has not proven possible for the main parties to reach an agreement paving the way for democratic and credible elections,” Stefan Frowein, head of the EC delegation in Dhaka, told a news conference.
Khaleda ended her five-year term as prime minister in October and handed over the country and the running of the elections to an interim government in a constitutionally mandated move aimed at ensuring fairness and transparency.
But Hasina's Awami League and its allies have continued to accuse the interim government of bias in Khaleda's favour. Hasina brushed off the curfew.
“We are not afraid. We will declare a new action programme after assessing the situation.”
“Please go home and to your villages and give a moral boost to workers and supporters,” she told party leaders and activists at her Dhaka residence on Thursday evening.
Political analysts say the bitter rivalry between Hasina and Khaleda has divided the country of 140 million and created animosities that may prove impossible to heal.
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