The BNP has called for a 48-hour hartal starting from Sunday (19 November) to protest against the upcoming national election schedule.

The strike will be enforced from 6:00am on Sunday, BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir said at a virtual briefing on Thursday (16 November). 

A similar announcement is likely to come from the Jamaat-e-Islami, according to party insiders.

The hartal comes a day after the Election Commission declared the election schedule – with polling day set for 7 January. 

Rejecting the election schedule, BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi yesterday warned that the country was now headed towards an "inevitable conflict".

"That a fair election can be held under this government is a complete lie. We boycott this biased Election Commission," he said in a reaction at a virtual press conference last night.

"Except for AL, for whom has this election schedule been announced?" he questioned.

The Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami also rejected the schedule for the 12th national election schedule. 

"The entire nation, including the Jamaat-e-Islami, is rejecting the schedule announced by the Election Commission, which ignored the people's long-standing demand to hold elections under a caretaker government," Jamaat Acting Ameer and former MP Professor Mujibur Rahman said in a statement on Wednesday (15 November).

The ruling Awami League, however, welcomed the EC announcement, saying it goes in line with the constitution and elections will be held accordingly.

"The Election Commission has announced the schedule according to the constitution. The process of nomination of candidates will start soon for the final preparation of the election," Matia Chowdhury, presidium member of the party and deputy leader in Parliament.

She also said leaders and activists of the party had also been instructed to prevent "BNP-Jamaat anarchy" by occupying the streets.  

Earlier this month, the CEC made it clear that it did not have a mandate to resolve the crisis between political parties given the limited time in hand ahead of the 12th parliamentary election.

During the live telecast of the election schedule announcement, CEC Kazi Habibul Awal said political parties will be able to distribute symbols within 18 December and the election campaign will officially kick off on 18 December. The campaign duration will end at 8:00am on 5 January.

Earlier this month, the CEC made it clear that it did not have a mandate to resolve the crisis between political parties given the limited time in hand ahead of the 12th parliamentary election.

Under the constitution, the national election must be held within 90 days before the five-year term of the current parliament expires.

Prior to the EC telecast, US Ambassador Peter Haas handed out letters sent by US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu – calling for "dialogue without preconditions" – among the AL, the BNP and the Jatiya Party.

The letters also reiterated the call of "free, fair, impartial, and participatory elections".

Reacting to Donald Lu's letter, Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader yesterday rejected the possibility of dialogue with opposition parties to resolve the ongoing political deadlock.

The BNP, Jamaat and other like-minded parties have long been demanding the national polls be held under a non-party neutral caretaker administration while the ruling Awami League maintains that the election will take place as per the constitution, under the government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.   

The political standoff turned to an escalation on 28 October, when the AL, BNP and Jamaat convened rallies in the capital, resulting in the death of a constable, injuries and fierce clashes in downtown Dhaka.  

The BNP rally was suspended midway by BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul, who also announced a hartal for the next day. He was arrested the next day.  

This was followed by arrests of other senior BNP leaders, including Amir Khosru and Moazzem Hussain.

The BNP enforced a hartal and blockades the following days while Jamaat-e-Islami and other parties, who held similar demands, also called similar programmes.

Also on the day of the election schedule announcement, the BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami and some other parties were observing the fifth phase of their blockade. In the evening, the BNP brought out processions across the country protesting the announcement of the schedule.