By NNN-PTI,
Dhaka, Bangladesh : The government in emergency-ruled Bangladesh will hand over power to the elected representatives on December 31 after holding general elections, a top advisor to the military-backed interim authority said.
“The tenure of this government will come to an end on December 31. We will then hand over power to an elected government and go back to our respective professions,” Bdnews24 news agency quoted Law Adviser Hassan Ariff as saying on Saturday.
A law ministry spokesman confirmed the news, made public for the first time by a government advisor although several cabinet members had, earlier, said they would quit within days after the planned national polls.
The current government was installed with crucial army support after the January 11, 2007 proclamation of a state of emergency amid political chaos and violent clashes between rival activists ahead of the now postponed polls, which was scheduled to be held on January 22 in the same year.
The international community, including the western world visibly stood by the government as it launched a massive reform campaign and an anti-graft crackdown that also detained two former prime ministers Sheikh Hasina of the Awami League and her arch-rival Khaleda Zia of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
The two ex-premiers were, however, freed later with the government and the court allowing them to face trials on graft charges from outside.
However, analysts fear that uncertainty could still grip the fate of the polls as the BNP and its allies including fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami have yet not reached an agreement with the interim government on crucial electoral reforms.