Khalida refuses to register as voter from jail as deadline expires

Dhaka: Imprisoned former prime minister KhalidaZia declined to be listed as a voter from behind bars, risking her candidacy in the upcoming December general elections as a deadline for enrolment on the electoral roll expired on Monday.

"She refused to be enrolled in the voter list despite our requests several times ... we also cautioned her that she might risk her candidacy in the election" by being a non-voter, deputy inspector general of prisons Shamsul Haidar Siddiqui told Gulf News late Monday.

He said the jail authorities earlier provided Zia the relevant election law as she demanded but she eventually declined to be a voter protesting her detention in a makeshift sub-jail at a parliament complex as she faces trial on several graft charges.

"I will not become a voter as long as I am in jail," Siddiqui quoted her as saying.

Zia's refusal came as two senior advisers of the interim cabinet on Sunday said the process for her release had "reached the final stage" as the interim government decided to free her under an "executive order" that would allow the ex-premier to face the trials on graft charges from outside the prison.

Registration

Election commissioner retired brigadier general M. Sakhawat Hussain earlier told reporters the commission expected her to register as a voter by Sunday, the last day of voter registration ahead of the upcoming polls.

"We sent her requests but she refused to be a voter ... let's see how the law takes its course," he later told Gulf News, declining to elaborate immediately.

Election Commission officials, however, said Zia could be a voter under a special election commission arrangement despite the expiry of the deadline.

Zia's arch rival, former premier and Awami League chief Sheikh, who too was detained in another nearby sub-jail at the same compound, became a voter three months ago. Hasina is now in the United States on a government "executive order" for treatment.

Both the former premiers were detained on several corruption charges last year as part of a massive anti-graft campaign being spearheaded by the interim administration, installed with crucial military support after the January 11, 2007 proclamation of a state of emergency.

The campaign so far saw the detention or imprisonment of nearly 200 high-profile people, mostly politicians. Zia's two detained sons and lawmakers of her Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) also declined to become voters under detention.