Polls must move forward: US

The United States has said that it wants elections in Bangladesh to move forward as soon as possible and in an "appropriate way", with the State Department stressing that America's position on Bangladesh and elections has not changed.

State Department Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey said "... Our (US) position on Bangladesh and on its elections, I think, is well-known to you and certainly hasn't changed".

"We do want to see elections move forward as soon as possible and in an appropriate way, according to the Constitution, according to the rule of law. Certainly, we also want to make sure that there is accountability in government, that corruption and any other illegal activities are managed," he said on Thursday.

"But that, again, is something that is for the Bangladeshi people and the Bangladeshi system to deal with; a question that every country is going to have to address in its own way and time.

Certainly, though, people need to be careful to make sure that as they implement any kind of measures that, again, they're done in full accordance with the rule of law and in accordance to whatever the national standards and practices of that country are," he added.

Asked about the role of the law enforcement agencies in that country and on rumours of an "imminent" army takeover, Casey said the United States wanted to see democracy develop in that country and its reaction to any military takeover will be very strong.

"Certainly, not only in Bangladesh, but in any place in the world, we would react very strongly and very negatively to any efforts by the military or anyone else to usurp the rights of the legitimate government," he said.