DHAKA: The interim government of Bangladesh on Wednesday made two key concessions to the opposition Awami League, which has threatened to boycott January polls unless its demands for reforms are met.

Election commissioner S.M. Zakaria, accused of bias in favour of the outgoing government led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), will be asked to go on leave during the elections, interim cabinet member Mahbubul Alam told reporters.

The interim government also announced that it had decided to use an updated voter list based on one drawn up for the 2001 elections.

It will not use a new list the opposition alleged contained the names of 14 million “ghost voters”, thereby meeting another key demand of opposition parties led by the Awami League.

“We think these measures will be acceptable to all the political parties,” Alam said, adding that he hoped they would now feel able to “take part in the election process” to maintain the “continuity of the constitution”.

Yasmeen Murshed, another cabinet member, said the latest concessions meant the interim body had now delivered all the reforms it had agreed to implement earlier.

The interim cabinet, led by President Iajuddin Ahmed, agreed on the measures after a five-hour meeting.

The main opposition Awami League in an instant reaction said they were not satisfied with the latest government concessions and would now go ahead with a nationwide strike on Thursday.

“We are not satisfied with these latest steps. It’s piecemeal step and it came too late. And also it did not have everything that we have been demanding for months,” opposition spokesman Abdul Jalil said.

“The president still could not prove that he is neutral. He is still being dictated by the BNP,” Jalil added.

The Awami League and its allies have threatened to boycott the polls, scheduled for Jan 22, unless the interim government carries out a string of reforms and sets a new date for the vote.

It has said the measures are necessary for free and fair polls.

Since Oct 28, when the tenure of the BNP government expired, the country has been repeatedly paralysed by opposition protests in support of the demands.

Awami leader Sheikh Hasina Wajed on Monday demanded a total overhaul of the election commission and the removal of two controversial commissioners accused of favouring the BNP.

She also demanded an updated voter list and the removal of at least 300 election officials appointed by the BNP government.—AFP