Bangladeshi opposition rejects newly appointed election commission

Feb 8, 2012, 13:26 GMT

Dhaka - Bangladeshi President Muhammad Zillur Rahman on Wednesday appointed a new election commission ahead of a general election in 2014 - in a move immediately rejected by the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

According to an official announcement, former parliamentary affairs secretary Kazi Rakib Uddin Ahmed replaces chief election commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda, whose five-year tenure expired this week.

The president also appointed four new officials to the five-member body.

Reacting to the appointments however, BNP acting general secretary Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir announced that the party would not take part in any election under the reconstituted election commission.

Earlier, the president met with 23 political parties, including the BNP and the ruling Awami League, to reach consensus over the new setup of the electoral body.

The BNP has expressed fears that fraud could mar the next election.

The opposition, lead by former prime minister Khaleda Zia, has been asking the government to instal a non-party caretaker administration to oversee the national polls.

Last year, the coalition government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina repealed the system of caretaker administrations, which oversaw three parliamentary elections after its introduction in 1996.