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Bangladesh's political leaders wrap up campaigns
AFP - Sunday, December 28
DHAKA (AFP) - - Bangladesh's two main political leaders criss-crossed the country on Saturday in a final day of campaigning ahead of the country's first democratic election in seven years.
Monday's polls will signal the end of two years of rule by an army-backed regime which stepped in after months of political violence brought the country to a standstill.
The two women who have dominated the political scene for the past two decades -- Sheikh Hasina Wajed of the Awami League and her bitter rival Khaleda Zia of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) -- made a last-ditch attempt for votes with impassioned promises to bring change to the impoverished nation.
Speaking to a 100,000-strong rally in the capital Dhaka, Zia held her final rally, before campaigning officially stops at the end of Saturday, appealing to first-time voters to bring her to power.
"I urge you as a mother, please vote us in Monday's elections. I urge you to help us build a prosperous future for you," Zia said.
First-time voters will make up 32 percent of the 81 million people who can cast ballots in the election.
Sheikh Hasina, meanwhile, held her last rally in the second biggest city Chittagong -- a BNP stronghold -- reiterating her pledge to modernise the country through technology.
"If elected, we will make Bangladesh a digital nation by 2021," she said to a similar-sized crowd.
Both leaders were due to deliver televised addresses to the nation later Saturday.
Meanwhile, some 600,000 police officers were deployed across the country Saturday to patrol 35,000 polling booths, in addition to 50,000 military personnel deployed earlier this week as part of an unprecedented security operation.
At least two dozen suspected Islamic militants have been arrested, some with grenades and explosives, ahead of the elections but violence that has marred previous campaigns has not yet materialised.
The current regime has been in power since January 2007 when the army stepped in, cancelled elections and imposed a state of emergency after at least 35 people were killed in pre-poll violence over allegations of vote-rigging.
In one incident Saturday, the motorcade of former military dictator Hussain Muhammad Ershad -- campaigning on behalf of his Jatiya Party -- was attacked by protesters in northern Bangladesh, police said.
Private television channels said at least a dozen people were hurt as protesters hurled stones at the cars but local police chief Faruque Hossain told AFP: "No one was injured and Ershad's car was not damaged."
Ousted in 1990 when Sheikh Hasina and Zia joined forces to lead a people's revolt, Ershad says he has struck a deal with Sheikh Hasina to become the next president if she wins.
The two former premiers -- nicknamed the "battling begums" -- were jailed on corruption charges by the caretaker regime but then released in order to contest the elections.
Poll analysts have predicted a hung parliament with fringe parties and independent winners playing big roles in the formation of the next government.
The winner of Monday's election, either a single party or a coalition of parties, needs 151 of the 300 seats in the National Assembly.
Bangladesh has a long history of coups and counter-coups since winning independence from Pakistan in 1971.
The Awami League and the BNP have often been accused of anti-democratic tactics, with both regularly boycotting parliament and staging national strikes when in opposition.
A short but vigorous election campaign has been under way since December 12.
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