Bangladesh's prominent political parties in a major shift in policy have decided to join a limited number of local government elections ending a deadlock with the military backed interim regime, officials said Saturday, according to dpa. The former ruling Awami League said that it was altering the earlier decision to boycott all polls under the present caretaker government if it went ahead with its plan to hold local elections before the parliamentary vote. "We have made some adjustments in our strategy to contest in local elections in four cities and nine towns where polls are slated for Aug 4," acting Awami League chief Zillur Rahman said. The decision to take part in the local polls came after a two-day meeting of the party's central working committee in Dhaka. Party spokesman Ashraful Islam said the change was made in the interest of restoring peace and democracy in the impoverished South Asian country.
