Dhaka residents trying to board a state-owned bus during a blockade yesterday. Bangladesh faced a third day of paralysis yesterday as political parties seeking the ouster of a controversial election official vowed to press on with a transport blockade until their demands were met. (REUTERS)

DHAKA • Talks resumed yesterday in a bid to end violent protests over a top Bangladesh election official accused of favouring the outgoing government as a nationwide opposition blockade entered its third day.

The caretaker government, tasked with organising parliamentary elections scheduled for January, met leaders of the independent Jatiya Party in Dhaka. It was later due to hold talks with the outgoing four-party coalition led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

The talks followed the government’s discussions late on Monday with the main opposition Awami League and its allies, who are demanding the resignation of chief election commissioner M A Aziz.

The opposition alliance has accused Aziz of making the polls a foregone conclusion by drawing up an electoral list with 10 million fake voters and say they will continue with protests and a road, rail and river blockade until he is replaced.

One man died and dozens were injured on Monday in a clash between opposition supporters and riot police in the capital.

Thousands of opposition activists again held rallies yesterday in Dhaka and blocked highways linking the country’s main cities, raising concerns about food and other supplies, police said, adding no violence was reported.

Cities were being supplied with food and other essential items through overnight deliveries, and ferries on the delta nation’s many rivers were not disrupted, police added.

Police and security forces were on high alert across the country in case of clashes between supporters of the Awami League and the BNP, which also held nationwide rallies yesterday.

Business leaders expressed alarm over damage to the impoverished nation’s economy by the protests as deliveries to and from the country’s main southeastern Chittagong port were suspended for a third consecutive day.

“It’s a catastrophic situation. The port is congested with thousands of containers as we have been able to unload them from ships but there is no way we can transport them across the country,” said port chairman Shahadat Hossain.

Business leaders met the president, Iajuddin Ahmed, who heads the caretaker government, to urge an immediate end to the crisis.

“We are losing millions of dollars each day. Small businesses have their backs to the wall and the whole economy will face a huge slowdown if this is not stopped,” said Mir Nasir Hossain, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

The opposition has said fair elections cannot be held with Aziz in place and has threatened to boycott the polls if he is not removed.

Four days of clashes between rival parties after the government’s mandate expired late last month left 25 people dead as the opposition staged protests against the government’s choice for the post of head of the caretaker government.

The opposition said it would not accept former Supreme Court judge K M Hasan as the interim chief, accusing the former BNP official of being biased in favour of the outgoing government.

After the protests led to Hasan declining the post, the president named himself as head of the temporary governmenton October 29.

The Awami League agreed to end its protests, saying they would be resumed if the president failed to prove his neutrality as head of the non-party administration by sacking Aziz.

The party called fresh street protests and an indefinite transport blockade from Sunday after Aziz remained in place.

Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s BNP led the four-party Islamist-allied government until its mandate ran out on October 27. The caretaker government took over two days later.