Bangladesh opposition calls for 72-hour nationwide blockade

Bangladesh's main opposition BNP today announced a 72-hour nationwide blockade from tomorrow, demanding cancellation of the January 5 general elections.
Nazrul Islam Khan, a standing committee member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), announced the blockade at a press conference at party chairperson Khaleda Zia's office.
The 72-hour countrywide blockade that the BNP-led 18-party opposition alliance has jointly called will begin from 6:00 am tomorrow.
The opposition are demanding the cancellation of the schedule of the parliamentary polls on Januray 5 and holding elections under a non-party government, the Daily Star reported.
The opposition alliance has been demanding the formation of a non-party caretaker set-up for elections oversight.

But the Awami League recently formed a multi-party interim government to conduct the polls, which was rejected by the BNP saying polls under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's leadership will not be free and fair.
During the last 20 days, the opposition has enforced blockade for 13 days from November 27 to December 16.
They observed a 2-day rail, road and waterway blockade from November 27, five days from December 1 and six days from December 7.