Bangladesh's opposition vowed on Friday to paralyse the country this weekend with blockades and protests if the government fails to sack the official in charge of organising general elections.
The Awami League opposition and its 13 allies accuse the election chief, M.A. Aziz, of rigging voters' lists in favour of the outgoing Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led government for the elections slated for January.
"We will wait until Saturday evening. If the (caretaker) government fails to act, we have no option but to return to the streets," said opposition spokesman Abdul Jalil.
The opposition said it would cut off the capital, block roads, rail and waterways and close ports if the election head was not dismissed by late Saturday.
The impoverished nation was badly hit by violence late last month after the opposition launched street protests following the expiry of the government's five-year mandate and appointment of a caretaker administration.
At least 25 people were killed and more than 2,000 injured as supporters of the opposition and the outgoing government clashed using firearms, bombs and machetes in one of Bangladesh's worst bouts of political violence.
The opposition called a halt to the protests after four days in what it said was a bid to give the caretaker government a chance to fulfil its demands.
"We have already extended the deadline after a request from the caretaker government. Unfortunately it has failed to implement our demands that are necessary for free and fair polls," Jalil said.
The opposition has threatened to boycott the elections if Aziz is not removed and charge that a voters' list prepared by his office has at least 10 million fake voters. It has been calling for Aziz's dismissal for months.
The party has also made a string of other demands that it says are aimed ensuring the interim administration's neutrality as stipulated by the constitution.
The interim government led by President Iajuddin Ahmed last week asked the election chief to resign but he refused.
"Constitutionally, it's now very difficult to force Aziz to resign unless he goes willingly," interim cabinet member Sultana Kamal told reporters.
Under the constitution, the process of removing an election commissioner against his will is lengthy and involves setting up a judicial commission that must find him guilty of gross misconduct or physical or mental incompetence.
The caretaker government was seeking to devise other ways to neutralise Aziz and has told his office to fix as many voter list errors as possible, Kamal said.
"We all know there are fake voters and that the names of dead people are still there," she added.
An analyst said a crisis was looming as the caretaker government now has few options to satisfy the opposition.
"It played its big card by asking the election chief to resign. But now it's facing a deadlock," Ataur Rahman, political science professor at Dhaka University, said.
"It's now up to the political parties to reach a compromise. Otherwise, the deadlock will fester, violence will return and the president may have to declare an emergency," he said.