Hasina-led alliance to boycott Bangladesh elections

DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh's Sheikh Hasina said on Wednesday that the mainstream political alliance she leads will boycott the January 22 elections because the interim government had failed to ensure it would be free and fair.

The former prime minister's move adds to uncertainty ahead of the parliamentary elections, which have already brought weeks of political violence and crippling strikes across the impoverished South Asian country.

"We have agreed not to participate in the election because the country's interim government in charge of holding a free and fair election has failed to create a congenial election atmosphere," said Hasina, whose Awami League leads a powerful 14-party alliance.

"Besides the election boycott, we will now launch a bigger movement to oust Iajuddin from the post of caretaker chief," she told a news conference.

The country has been run by a caretaker government since the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chief Begum Khaleda Zia ended her five-year term as prime minister in October.

Hasina accuses the country's president and head of the interim authority, Iajuddin Ahmed, of favoring Khaleda to ensure she wins the election and has demanded the president step aside.

At least 45 people have been killed and hundreds injured in political violence since the interim government took over to steer the country to the polls.

Hasina reiterated on Wednesday that Iajuddin must resign as interim head of the country because he had failed to prove his neutrality and had acted under instructions of her rival, Zia.

She demanded that the voters' list should be updated and corrected and new election schedules must be announced.