Opposition parties stage rally calling for electoral reforms

(12 Mar 2012)
1. Wide of almost-empty street due to strike call by opposition party
2. Police frisking people on the street at entry place to Dhaka city
3. Supporters of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's party carrying iron rods and bricks and patrolling the road
4. Wide of Hasina's supporters in road, AUDIO: small explosion
5. Zoom in of pro-government activists battering the closed shutters of shops
6. Pro-government activists tearing down opposition party banner
7. SOUNDBITE (Bangla) Mohammad Robiul Islam Rony, pro-government activist:
"Since the opposition BNP (Bangladesh Nationalist Party) will create chaos and violence on the streets, we have been ordered to take to the streets and ensure the safety of the lives and properties of people."
8. Mid of pro-government activist carrying what appears to be a firearm (visible through the opening at the back of the rickshaw)
9. High shot of opposition rally
10. Police watching the rally from the top of a building
11. High shop of opposition rally
12. Opposition party supporters at rally
13. SOUNDBITE (Bangla) Khaleda Zia, Bangladesh Nationalist Party Leader:
"They have created obstacles at many spots on the way to this rally, they have harassed many people in many ways. Despite this, they have not been able to stop the flow of the crowd. We want to give a message to the government that it is our democratic right to organise processions and rallies."
14. Activists applauding Zia's speech and chanting slogans demanding the declaration of a strike
15. Opposition activists lying on the street to protest mass arrests during the last few days
16. Large group of police patrolling the rally area
17. Riot police cordoning off the area near ruling Awami League party office
18. Various of paramilitary soldiers on the street
STORYLINE
Police stepped up security as tens of thousands of people joined an opposition rally in Bangladesh's capital on Monday to demand that a non-partisan caretaker government oversee the next general election.
The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its Islamist ally, Jamaat-e-Islami, are demanding the restoration of a constitutional provision that required incumbent governments to transfer power to a neutral caretaker administration to conduct polls.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government scrapped the 15-year-old system last year.
Security forces were put on alert to prevent clashes between the ruling party activists and opposition protesters.
Pro-government activists armed with iron rods and bricks patrolled the streets and some were seen attacking shops that closed after the opposition party's strike call.
The opposition says police have detained nearly three-thousand activists over the past two days, allegedly to foil the protest, a charge denied by the government.
The opposition, led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, says elections due in 2014 will be rigged if held under the current government without a caretaker system in place.
Zia said her alliance will stage a nationwide general strike on March 29 and will escalate its protests if the system is not restored by June 11.
"We want to give a message to the government that it is our democratic right to organise processions and rallies," Zia told the cheering crowd.
General strikes are a common opposition tactic in Bangladesh to highlight demands and embarrass the government.
Bangladesh, a fledgling democracy, has a history of political unrest.
Zia and Hasina have alternated as prime minister since the country's last military ruler, Hussain Mohammad Ershad, was ousted in 1990.

#Dhaka #Sheikh #Hasina
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives ​​
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/196bdeb3958cf415dbacca15042cf657

Видео Opposition parties stage rally calling for electoral reforms канала AP Archive