Portal:Current events/Bangladesh/Selected Article/1

General elections are scheduled to be held in Bangladesh by late 2008. They were originally scheduled for 21 January 2007, but postponed by two days due to demands by the opposition made in December 2006.^[1] They were put back by one day to 22 January,^[2] and subsequently postponed for an extended period due to opposition protests and boycott threats.

On April 5, the county's chief election official declared that the elections would need to be pushed back at least eighteen months.^[3] Subsequently on April 12 Fakhruddin Ahmed, the Chief Advisor, announced in a televised speech to the nation that the next parliamentary elections would be held before the expiry of the year 2008.^[4] On July 15, 2007 the Election Commission of Bangladesh published a roadmap for the election, promising a compilation of voter lists by October 2008 and an official election call before the end of that year.^[5]

After the election, the parliament will have to elect the next President of Bangladesh; this should have taken place by 5 September 2007, when Iajuddin Ahmed's term expired, but was postponed due to the lack of an elected parliament.^[6]

On September 9, 2007 Fakhruddin Ahmed addressed the nation and recalled indoor politics with strict conditions to facilitate preparation for the election and reaffirmed his commitment to hold the election on time or earlier.^[7]

In early October, the Chief Electoral Commissioner stated elections could be held by October 2008, if the electoral roll could be compiled by July 2008.^[8] (more)