DHAKA, Dec 3: Another major Bangladesh party on Tuesday announced a boycott of the upcoming general elections, declaring that the country was on the “brink of disaster” as seven more people died in protests.

Former dictator Hussain Muhammad Ershad said his Jatiya Party, the country’s third largest and a key ally of the ruling Awami League, would not contest the January 5 election, following in the footsteps of the opposition alliance.

“Since all parties are not contesting, so the Jatiya Party will also not participate in the polls,” Mr Ershad told reporters.

“I am not going to contest the election. The country is on the brink of disaster. We’re heading towards uncertainty,” he said.

The boycott is a blow to the credibility of the elections as pressure mounts to reschedule the polls. Only the Awami League and several small left-wing parties are now expected to contest the 300 seats in the national parliament.

“It has hammered the last nail into the election coffin,” said Osman Faruq, a spokesman for the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

The BNP and its allies announced a boycott on Monday amid growing street violence that has left 59 people dead since late October, and a series of opposition strikes and blockades that have paralysed large parts of the country.

The BNP called the street protests to try to force Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to quit and to make way for a neutral administration to oversee the polls, saying it would be rigged if she remained in charge. Ms Hasina refused the demand and instead formed an interim multi-party cabinet which includes her allies.

As political uncertainty grows, the United States urged a halt to the “senseless violence” and called on rival political parties to hold talks to resolve the crisis.

“The senseless violence of past days is especially reprehensible as it intentionally targeted innocent people with bombs and by burning them alive in vehicles,” the US embassy said on Tuesday.

“ ... We believe that it is now more urgent than ever for both major parties to empower trusted lieutenants to undertake constructive dialogue to find a way forward to hold free and fair elections that are credible in the eyes of the Bangladeshi people,” it added.

The comments came even as fresh violence erupted across the country on Tuesday between police and bomb-throwing opposition supporters over the elections, leaving another seven people dead.—AFP