DHAKA, Dec 11: Four members of the 11-member interim caretaker government resigned on Monday, owing to “bitter differences of opinion” with President Iajuddin Ahmed on major issues concerning parliamentary elections scheduled for Jan 21.

The advisers — Dr Akbar Ali Khan, Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury, C.M. Shafi Sami and Sultana Kamal — sent their resignation letters to President Iajuddin after they were denied the opportunity to meet him in the morning. In their resignation letters, they said that their conscience did not allow them to stay on as they no longer felt that a fair election was possible.

The resignations came a day after the president ordered the deployment of armed forces across the country to maintain law and order despite objections from some members of the interim cabinet, and in the midst of a negotiation process for creating an atmosphere conducive for election.

Prior to the resignations, a panel of advisers was negotiating with the two feuding political alliances — one led by Awami League President Sheikh Hasina and the other by BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia — to end the impasse over updating of voters’ lists, reconstitution of the election commission and overhauling of the administration.

The advisers said they had failed to discharge their duty to create an atmosphere congenial to a fair election that would ensure participation of all political parties. President Iajuddin Ahmed on Monday convened an emergency meeting at Bangabhaban to review the situation after the resignations.

Well-placed sources who attended the meeting told Dawn that all participants of the meeting decided to make a formal request to the four advisers to withdraw their resignations.