DHAKA (Reuters) – Bangladesh has deployed its armed forces across the country over fears of violence ahead of a general election scheduled for Sunday, which the main opposition party is boycotting.
Aboard armored vehicles, the soldiers traveled to temporary camps set up in the capital Dhaka to help the civil administration maintain peace and security.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to allow elections to be held under a neutral caretaker government, which was refused.
Sheikh Hasina has repeatedly accused the BNP of being behind the anti-government protests that have rocked Dhaka since the end of October and which have left at least 10 dead.
The deployed troops will only act at the request of polling station officials, the army said in a statement.
The navy has been deployed in two coastal districts and the air force will provide helicopter assistance to polling stations in remote hilly areas.
People fear that the violence that swept Bangladesh over the past two months could return after the vote.
“I don’t care which party is in power. I just want some peace so I can earn a living and feed my family,” said Abdul Hamid, 48, a rickshaw puller in Dhaka.
“I don’t think there will be peace after the elections. If there is political unrest, it will be difficult for us to survive. This is no way to run a country. We no longer know where we are. “
Sheikh Hasina, daughter of the country’s first president, came to power in 2009. Her government is accused of authoritarianism, human rights violations and even corruption.
His main rival and twice prime minister, Khaleda Zia, leader of the BNP, is under house arrest. She is accused of corruption, trumped up accusations according to her party. His son Tarique Rahman, current president of the BNP, is in exile after being the subject of several accusations which he denies.
Western countries are pressuring Sheikh Hasina’s government to hold free and fair elections.
(Reporting Ruma Paul and Sudipto Ganguly; French version Gaëlle Sheehan, editing by Kate Entringer)
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