DHAKA, Oct 24: One of Bangladesh’s main political parties threatened on Friday to boycott an election in December if its leader, former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, is barred from contesting it because of graft charges she is facing.

Bangladesh officials and analysts have said the participation of both major parties is crucial to ensure peaceful voting and a smooth return to democracy after nearly two years of rule by an army-backed interim government.

“We will not participate in the Dec 18 polls unless our chief Begum Khaleda Zia’s participation is ensured,” Khandaker Delwar Hossain, secretary general of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), told reporters on Friday.

His comments came after Hossain Zillur Rahman, a key adviser (minister) to the interim government, said on Thursday he was not yet sure whether Khaleda and her arch-rival Sheikh Hasina, head of the Awami League, would be cleared to run in the poll.

“This is now pretty clear that the two former premiers will lead their respective parties in the election. But if they themselves will be in the race depends on what the law decides,” he told reporters, after separate meetings on Thursday with the BNP and Awami League.

Both parties have urged the government to quash all charges against the two women and end emergency rule, which was imposed when the interim administration took power in January 2007 after widespread political violence and cancelled a scheduled poll.The government says it wants to retain the emergency — although it would be relaxed substantially to allow campaigning — to ensure safety of voters and prevent violence.

“We want the emergency to be lifted once and for all, not in phases. BNP will participate in the polls only if the government accepts our demands,” Delwar said.

Hasina and Khaleda both spent a year in detention along with dozens of top political figures, after the interim authority launched a crackdown on corruption.

Most have now been released on bail or parole as part of the government’s effort to ensure the credibility of the election is not tarnished by a boycott by one or both of the major parties.

Hasina, now in the United States on a medical parole, would return to Bangladesh in early November, her party said. Khaleda is currently on bail, also on health grounds.

—Reuters