Bangladesh battened down for a possible showdown on Sunday between police and supporters of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina who have vowed to use transport blockades to paralyse the country, reported Reuters. Hasina's Awami League alliance, in opposition before Begum Khaleda Zia ended her five-year term as prime minister last month, wants Bangladesh's interim administration to fire the chief election commissioner before elections in January. She set Sunday as a deadline for President Iajuddin Ahmed, who heads the caretaker administration, to remove Chief Election Commissioner M.A. Aziz and his deputies, who are accused by Hasina of being partial towards the Bangladesh Nationalist Party led by Khaleda. On Saturday police imposed an indefinite ban on rallies and demonstrations in the capital Dhaka from Sunday and vowed to protect law and order at all costs. Road blockades were also banned and police using loudspeakers advised people not to gather in the streets of Dhaka on Sunday. Political violence has killed at least 30 people and injured hundreds over recent weeks and president Iajuddin met police and the elite Rapid Action Battalion force on Saturday to discuss their plans to keep the peace.
