BNP, allies call 48-hour shutdown from Sunday

Opposition BNP and its allies called a 48-hour fresh countrywide hartal from Sunday in a changed situation as the Election Commission kick-started election process.
The simultaneous announcement of general strike came on the last day (Thursday) of the latest round of two-day countrywide blockade, in their bid to press home the demand for polls under a neutral interim regime.
Senior joint secretary-general of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Ruhul Kabir Rizvi in a virtual press briefing disclosed the hartal programme-a day after the Election Commission (EC) rolled out the elections schedule with January 7 as the date for voting to elect Bangladesh's 12th parliament.
The BNP dismissed the election schedule as "unilateral", as did the other opposition parties who also joined forces with the former ruling party now in fair-election movement.
"BNP will observe hartal Sunday and Monday in protest against the unilateral declaration of election schedule by the election commission," Rizvi said in the party statement.
Earlier on Wednesday evening, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal announced the poll schedule-and hence the interim period in the run-up to the polls began Thursday with the ruling government ceding authority to make policy decisions and to give new appoints, and postings and transfers in the administration, the law minister said and the EC secretary also reaffirmed to the press.
Meanwhile, Gonotantra Mancha (GM), an opponent of the government, also announced its plan to enforce the 48-hour countrywide hartal on demand for scrapping the election schedule.
The hartal for November 19 and 20 (Sunday and Monday) was disclosed in a press release issued by senior joint general secretary of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) Kamal Uddin Patwary on behalf of the GM on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, leaders and activists of GM brought out procession at around 11:09 am in the capital in protest against the schedule for national elections.
They started their procession from Dainik Bangla intersection that terminated near the National Press Club after parading Purana Paltan and Culvert-road areas.
A faction of Gono Odhikar Parishad, led by Nurul Haque Nur, also announced a 48-hour hartal beginning from Sunday morning demanding the cancellation of the schedule for the 12th parliamentary polls.
Party president Nurul Haque Nur came up with the announcement after staging a demonstration in the capital's Bijoynagar area in protest against the polls schedule.

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