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Caretaker Leader Installed in Bangladesh Amid Violence
DHAKA, July 15 (News Agencies) - Bangladesh swore in a caretaker government leader Sunday to organize new elections, after a violent two-day transition in which 12 people were killed.
As head of the caretaker government, former chief justice Latifur Rahman has the task of organizing general elections within three months in the Muslim country.
The interim regime takes over from the administration of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed, whose term ended with the dissolution of parliament late Friday.
The assembly had served out a full five-year term, a first in Bangladesh's 30-year history, despite a boycott by the opposition for the past two years.
The main opposition alliance, led by Sheikh Hasina's arch rival Khaleda Zia, also boycotted the swearing-in, after arguments over the time the ceremony should be held.
However, Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) had earlier said it would cooperate with the caretaker government in the elections, which look set to be a rematch between Sheikh Hasina's Awami League and the BNP.
Antonio de Menezes, the European Union representative in Dhaka, said: "I deplore very much the opposition boycott as such a transition is appreciated around the world...and is a good precedent."
The outgoing premier was among some 800 guests who witnessed the swearing-in of Rahman at a ceremony administered by President Shahabuddin Ahmed at his palace.
Wearing a sari in the red and green colors of the national flag, Sheikha Hasina said: "I want the caretaker government to hold elections peacefully and elections have to be held at any cost."
Rahman will recommend to Ahmed the names of a maximum of 10 people to act as advisors during his brief tenure. They will be sworn in the next few days, official sources said.
In the absence of a parliament, Rahman and his government will be responsible to Ahmed, who will hold supreme powers during the interim period, including those concerning defense.
After the ceremony, Rahman told reporters: "My main task is to create proper atmosphere for elections and the priority is law and order situation."
Bangladesh has been politically charged during the transition, with 12 people killed in violence over the past two days.
In the capital, a BNP activist was killed Sunday after a gun battle with police, while an Awami League supporter was fatally hit by a bomb, witnesses said.
Another six people were injured in the BNP-dominated Nayabazar area of Dhaka, where an Awami League march was fired upon, the private Ekushey television network said.
Another three people died in clashes between supporters of the two parties in the western district of Kushtia, police said. It was not immediately known to which side the victims belonged.
"Some 100 more were injured after both sides broke a ban on rallies and marches," a police officer told AFP.
Seven people had already died in violence in different parts of the country on Saturday.
Bangladesh's first caretaker government, headed by Ahmed, took power in 1991 and organized Bangladesh's first free elections since its independence in 1971 from Pakistan.
Provision for a caretaker government was written into the constitution in 1996 to ensure elections were fair, following a campaign by Sheikh Hasina's Awami League, then in opposition.
The 1996 elections brought the Awami League into power after 21 years out of government. It had been ousted in a 1975 military coup, which left dead its leader and Bangladesh's founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Sheikh Hasina's father.
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