Bangladesh bans political rallies indefinitely

Five days ahead of an anti- government rally to demand a non-party caretaker system, Bangladesh police have imposed an indefinite ban on meetings, processions and rallies in capital Dhaka from Sunday morning, a step the opposition described as an attempt to mute dissenting voices. Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) in a notice Saturday slapped the ban from 6:00 a.m. local time Sunday which is to remain in place until a further order is issued in this connection. DMP spokesman Monirul Islam in a press briefing said "All indoor and outdoor meetings, rallies and human chains will be banned for an indefinite period in the capital city from Sunday morning to avoid any untoward situation." Ex-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party ( BNP) has condemned the government's move to ban all rallies and processions. In his immediate reaction to the prohibitory order issued by the DMP, the main opposition party's spokesman Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said "This is how the government is taking away people's democratic rights to speak and protest." Tense political standoff over the non-party caretaker government system culminated with both the ruling and opposition parties calling rallies on Oct. 25 in Dhaka to stage showdown. BNP announced its anti-government rally on Oct. 25. Following the main opposition party's announcement, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling Bangladesh Awami League (AL) party reportedly also decided to hit the streets of Dhaka on the same day, raising fears of violence. BNP has asked Hasina's AL to bring back the caretaker system, or else, it won't participate in the next polls slated for early 2014 because it fears an election without the caretaker government will not be free and fair. The parliament is due to expire on Jan. 24 next year and elections should be held within 90 days before expiry of the parliament. In an apparent move to de-escalate tension between ruling and opposition parties, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday proposed an all-party government be set up to hold general elections in the South Asian country. Although Hasina invited the main opposition party to nominate its lawmakers to be included in the cabinet of the poll-time government, she did not specify the size of the cabinet and its scope of work or who would head the cabinet. In his initial reaction, the BNP spokesman Alamgir said his party would come up with its formal reaction after Khaleda sits with her party leaders Saturday night to discuss the latest development. Since June 2011 when Bangladesh Parliament abolished the non- party caretaker government system after an apex court verdict declared the 15-year-old constitutional provision illegal, the BNP- led 18-party opposition alliance has been waging mass protests pushing for the reinstatement of the provision. The scrapped provision mandated an elected government to transfer power to a non-partisan caretaker administration to oversee a new parliamentary election. The caretaker government system was institutionalized through the 13th amendment to the constitution in 1996 by then BNP government under pressure from main opposition AL. The caretaker government, the main objective of which is to create such an environment in which an election can be held in a free and fair manner without any political influence of the outgoing government, has held the elections of 1996, 2001 and 2008, which were recognized as free and fair by local and international observers.