Bangladesh's former prime minister Sheikh Hasina reacted angrily on Saturday to a long delay in holding elections, calling it "undemocratic and unconstitutional".
Chief Election Commissioner A.T.M. Shamsul Huda last week said the commission needed at least 18 months to prepare a flawless voters' roll with photographs, before announcing a timetable for elections.
"My reaction is very clear. People will elect their government ... but the people are being deprived of their rights," Hasina told the BBC. "Why this (interim government) needs one and half years (to make the voters roll)? Why did they fail to even start work on preparation of the electoral roll yet?" Hasina said.
The interim government headed by former central bank chief Fakhruddin Ahmed took over in January, with the full backing of the country's powerful armed forces. It imposed a state of emergency and postponed parliamentary elections set for January 22 following weeks of political violence and a crippling shutdown of transport and business.
On Thursday, Huda said indoor political activity banned under the state of emergency would be allowed again soon so the commission could start talking to parties about the election. He also proposed a set of electoral reforms including mandatory registration for political parties and restricting such registration to parties which had won a seat in parliament in previous elections. Hasina said the reforms were needed to rid politics of corruption and make elections free.
"This government has done some good work and we supported them," Hasina said. "But while we know reforms are necessary, it shouldn't be an excuse." On Saturday, the council of advisers to the caretaker government approved in principle an amendment to the existing laws, to empower itself with more effective rules to curb corruption, violence and other serious crimes, officials said.
The extra powers would vest in the amended Emergency Powers Ordinance, 2007, which the council was likely to formally adopt in its next weekly meeting, the officials said without elaborating.