 |
| Army soldiers stand guard
during a general strike in Dhaka, 21 Dec 2006 |
 | | In
Bangladesh, at least 20 people have been injured as security forces
clashed with demonstrators taking part in the latest nationwide
strike called by a prominent political alliance to demand electoral
reform. The political deadlock is gripping the country ahead of
national elections in January.
Soldiers and riot police fired rubber bullets to disperse
thousands of activists of the Awami League and its allies, who
marched through the streets of the capital Dhaka on Thursday to
enforce a shutdown.
Officials say protesters torched a police car and smashed other
vehicles.
The strike caused countrywide disruptions, as activists halted
trains, barricaded highways and shut down schools and businesses.
The Awami League's campaign for electoral reform began in
October, when the previous government headed by its rival, the
Bangladesh Nationalist Party, handed power to an interim government.
The caretaker government is supposed to supervise neutral polls,
but the Awami League accuses it of bias in favor of the previous
government.
An independent political analyst in Dhaka, Ataus Samad, says the
interim government may be too weak to resolve the political deadlock
and end the demonstrations.
"Now it is a nominated, caretaker government in power, which does
not have a very strong foundation," said Samad. "If there are
clashes and agitations in the country every day, I don't think this
government will be capable of facing that, at least not politically,
they can send the police, but they can't mobilize public opinion."
The Awami League and its 14 allies pressed ahead with the latest
protest Thursday despite key concessions made by the interim
government Wednesday.
The administration agreed to send on leave a top election
official accused of bias by the Awami League. It also agreed to
update the voters' list as demanded by the alliance and extended the
deadline for filing election nominations by three days.
But leaders of the Awami League say the changes do not go far
enough to ensure free and fair elections.
The Awami League wants the elections scheduled for January 22 to
be postponed, but the Bangladesh Nationalist Party insists they
should go ahead as planned.
The country has already witnessed widespread violence in the
run-up to the polls. Forty-five people have been killed and hundreds
injured in clashes. The situation is not new to Bangladesh -
shutdowns, strikes and violence have also marred previous polls.
VOA News
| 
