DHAKA -- Bangladesh is exactly one month away from a general election due Jan. 7, but serious political turmoil has raised myriad questions over how the polls will be conducted, whether they can be held on time and how the fallout might affect the country's diplomatic and economic relationships.
The ruling Awami League of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is in full campaign mode, but the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is boycotting the election, demanding that it be held under a neutral caretaker administration. Amid repeated protest blockades, thousands of BNP leaders and activists have been detained.
