DHAKA, April 4: Bangladesh should announce a timetable for elections so the people can see a path back to democracy from a state of emergency declared in January, US Ambassador Patricia A. Butenis said.

Washington has huge influence in Bangladesh, where an interim government backed by the military is in control, having cancelled polls scheduled for Jan 22 in the wake of political violence.

The interim government has said no new election will be held until politics is rid of widespread corruption. The army chief said this week a new brand of democracy was needed to improve government.

The United States has often played an unofficial mediation role in Bangladeshi politics and, since the current crisis erupted late last year, Butenis has frequently shuttled between the parties and the interim government.

She met Chief Election Commissioner A. T. M. Shamsul Huda and his deputies on Tuesday.

“I, of course, emphasised the desirability of issuing a timeline for the election,” Butenis said in comments reported by Bangladeshi media and confirmed by the US embassy.

“We understand that the timeline depends on when the electoral reforms will be carried out, but again I urged them to have a projection so the government can make it public.”

It was Butenis' first meeting with election officials since the declaration of the emergency and the arrest of a string of high-level officials in an anti-corruption drive.—Reuters