Caretaker govt can't hold general elections, Bangladesh to US

US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas discussed the next general elections with leaders of the ruling Awami League in Dhaka on Wednesday. Awami League General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader along with other senior leaders of the party met the US Ambassador to discuss the forthcoming election issues along with other issues of importance to the two countries. A tweet issued by the US Embassy in Dhaka said that Ambassador Haas discussed free and fair elections in Bangladesh. They also discussed important work the United States and Bangladesh share, from trade to people-to-people ties, to security cooperation.
Later, speaking at a programme in Dhaka University, Obaidul Quader said that the Awami League has told the US Ambassador that it was not possible to bring back the caretaker government in the country to hold the next general elections. The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has announced that it will not take part in the next general elections under the current government. The BNP is demanding a neutral, caretaker government to conduct elections scheduled to be held by the end of this year or early in January next year.
Bangladesh repealed the system of caretaker government to conduct general elections through the 15th amendment in June 2011. Prior to that, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh had ruled that the system of the interim government was unconstitutional. However, earlier, Awami League headed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina came to power after the general elections of 2008 held under the caretaker government. But general elections in 2014 and 2018 were held under the new system which had no provision of a poll-time caretaker government. Opposition BNP had boycotted the 2014 elections and got 7 seats in the 2018 elections. Its MPs later resigned in December last year protesting against government refusal to allow for a caretaker government to conduct the next elections in the country.