State of Emergency to be lifted on 17th December

On 10 December 2008 Bangladesh's caretaker government announced that it will lift the current state of emergency order on 17 December ahead of general elections scheduled to take place on 29 December. Bangladesh has been under a state of emergency following widespread violence stemming from the January 2007 general elections. Both main Bangladeshi political parties had demanded the lifting of the state of emergency ahead of the elections, stating that the vote would not be credible otherwise.