EC announces schedule for parliamentary elections as well as upazila polls; AL and BNP welcome the move, urge free and fair polls; ADB and Bangladesh government sign a $87 million agreement
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    • A detailed election schedule was announced by the EC for the ninth parliamentary election, slated for December 18. The commission also announced the schedule for the third upazila elections to be held on December 28, instead of on two different dates as had been declared earlier. The two major political parties, the AL and the BNP welcomed the announcement but continued to urge the authorities to lift the state of emergency to make the upcoming elections credible1. The BNP on its part demanded an immediate hand over of power to an elected government through a free and fair election. BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia asserted that her party will contest in the polls only if the government met its charter of seven-point demands2.

    The caretaker government meanwhile started the pullout of troops across the country and relaxed emergency powers rules (EPR) allowing political parties to hold meetings and rallies3. The EC announced that the number of political parties and candidates contesting the upcoming parliamentary elections will be much lesser than those in previous years as only 25 parties had registered as parliamentary parties this time around4. The EC also finalised the voters list for upazila elections5.

    In other important developments, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Bangladeshi government signed a loan agreement amounting to $87 million to improve the basic services and infrastructure in municipal towns of Bangladesh6. The Bangladesh Bank stated that India had regained the top position as the country’s top importing source, having displaced China7.

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