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 But the two candidates vying to represent the Lalbagh
constituency, among the minority of seats to be contested by more
than one candidate in nationwide polls set for Sunday, are both in
the ruling Awami League, which is poised to steamroll to victory as
the main opposition party sits out the vote.
The Bangladesh National Party (BNP) is boycotting in protest at
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's move to scrap the tradition of
letting a caretaker government oversee elections. The impasse
undermines the legitimacy of the poll and is fuelling worries of
economic gridlock and further violence in the impoverished South
Asian country of 160 million.
"The acrimony between two of our main leaders has brought this
country to where it is now and not just crippled our economy and
growth, but also our democratic system," said Badiul Alam Majumdar,
secretary of Citizens for Good Governance, a non-governmental
organization.
Either Hasina or BNP chief Begum Khaleda Zia has been prime minister
for all but two of the past 22 years and there is deep enmity
between them.
While the outcome of Sunday's poll seems certain, what happens
afterwards is not. That could imperil Bangladesh's $22 billion
garment industry, which accounts for 80 percent of exports and has
been hampered by a series of nationwide strikes, including an
ongoing transportation blockade called by the BNP.
Pre-election violence that killed more than 100 people, mostly in
rural areas, had eased in recent days, although two people were
burnt to death early on Friday when opposition activists hurled
petrol bombs at a truck in northern Dinajpur, according to police.
Five polling centers were set on fire in southeastern Feni,
Khaleda's hometown.
Meanwhile, verdicts in the International Crimes Tribunal
investigating atrocities committed during the 1971 war of
independence from Pakistan have elicited a violent reaction from
activists affiliated with the Jamaat-e-Islami party, an Islamist
ally of the BNP.
Last month, the first execution resulting from the tribunal was
followed by deadly violence against Awami League members.
IMPASSE
Hasina has spoken of holding talks following Sunday's polls with the
opposition on the conduct of future elections.
If successful, these could eventually result in another election.
The BNP demands that the current electoral process be halted.
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Many opposition leaders are in jail or in hiding. Khaleda is under
what appears to be house arrest.
"Even if the BNP wanted to sit down to a dialogue, the atmosphere
does not exist," Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury, a BNP vice chairman who
was detained for several hours following a recent visit to Khaleda's
home, told Reuters on Friday.
The Awami League argues that the interim government system has
failed in the past.
"The election will be held under a strong and independent Election
Commission, not under any unelected people," Hasina said in a
televised speech on Thursday night.
A poll published in Friday's Dhaka Tribune found support to be
evenly split between the two parties, with the BNP backed by 37
percent of respondents and the Awami League 36 percent.
The European Union, a duty free market for nearly 60 percent of
Bangladesh's garment exports, has refused to send election
observers, as have the United States and the Commonwealth, a
grouping of 53 mainly former British colonies.
"We're disappointed that the major political parties have not yet
reached a consensus on a way to hold free, fair, and credible
elections," Marie Harf, a U.S. State Department spokeswoman told a
briefing on Thursday in Washington.
While the military could step in to take power in the event of a
breakdown of law and order — which it did in 2007 — it is widely
seen as reluctant to do so.
"Sheikh Hasina's main challenge is to convince the world these
elections are credible and because that is not possible she will
need a well-planned exit strategy to eventually conduct fair
elections," said Iftekhar Zaman, executive director of global
anti-corruption body Transparency International in Bangladesh.
(Additional reporting by Rafiqur Rahman, Nandita Bose and Ruma Paul;
editing by Ron Popeski)
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