January 05, 2007	Friday	Zilhaj 14, 1427

DHAKA, Jan 4: Bangladesh faced a looming political crisis on Thursday as its interim government said it would use the army to prevent protests by opposition parties, which are set to boycott polls due this month.

Home Ministry officials warned that the army would be deployed to prevent the opposition's planned national blockade on Sunday and Monday.

“No siege will be allowed” and the authorities would not protect those seeking to “defy the constitution”, the official BSS news agency quoted a home ministry official as saying.

“Law enforcement agencies and the armed forces would be called out in aid of the civil administration to take control of the streets ahead of the siege to maintain order,” the report added.

Officials and analysts said the country had reached a critical juncture after months of crippling and violent opposition protests.

“We think we have reached a crucial point. What will be or will not be, but we want to have the elections by Jan 22,” said Shaifqul Haque, a member of the interim government's advisory council, effectively the cabinet.

Under the Bangladesh constitution the caretaker government must hold the polls within 90 days of assuming power on Oct 29.

The Election Commission said 2,370 out of 4,146 candidates took back their nomination papers on Wednesday, hours before a deadline for withdrawals.

Most belonged to the main opposition Awami League and its 13 allies, which announced the boycott earlier on Wednesday.

“The country is approaching a zero hour of political crisis,” said Golam Hossain, a professor of political science at Dhaka's Jahangir Nagar University.

“If the election takes place, the constitutional crisis will be resolved but the political crisis will still be there,” he added.

The alliance of opposition parties has said it is more important for the elections to be seen as credible with all parties taking part than for them to be held on time.

It has demanded a string of reforms which it says are needed to ensure that the polls are fair and not tilted in favour of the outgoing Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

The coalition accuses the BNP of trying to rig the elections by appointing biased officials to key positions in the election commission and the temporary administration, which has to organise the polls by the end of January.—AFP