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Bangladesh elections by mid-June says CEC

DHAKA: Bangladesh's Chief Election Commissioner on Sunday started talks with political leaders on a timetable for general elections, expected before mid-June, commission officials said.

The officials said Mohammad Abu Hena has invited political leaders for separate meetings throughout Sunday, a normal working day in predominantly Muslim Bangladesh, but he has "more or less" set his mind about the date.

"Elections will be held by mid-June," Hena was quoted as saying by the officials, who have been asked to speed up preparations for the polls.

Commission sources said the election schedule was likely to be announced this week.

Hena, a former bureaucrat, succeeded justice A.K.M. Sadeque who resigned last month, soon after former prime minister Khaleda Zia stepped down.

The crucial elections to the 300-seat seventh parliament are being organised by the caretaker government of Muhammad Habibur Rahman, who has pledged the elections will be free and fair.

Hena was quoted by newspapers as saying the commission was working towards that end, and an election code of conduct was expected to be announced soon.

The sixth parliament, elected in the controversial February 15 general elections boycotted by all major groups opposing Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), amended the constitution, paving the way for elections to be organised by a neutral caretaker administration.

The parliament was dissolved March 30, when Zia also resigned.-APP