The blockade will resume on Monday if the alliance's 11-point demand is not met within Sunday, Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina warned President and Chief Adviser Iajuddin Ahmed.

"We are giving the president and chief adviser time until Sunday evening to realise our demands. If he fails to prove his neutrality and does not meet the people's demands by this time, the indefinite countrywide blockade programme will resume on Monday," Hasina told at a crowded press conference at her Dhanmondi office.

"We have postponed our blockade programme considering people's sufferings and having confidence in the sincerity of the advisers to the caretaker government as a discussion is going on over reconstitution of the Election Commission between them and the political parties," she said.

Prior to the press conference the AL chief held meetings with the leaders of her party and alliance and decided to postpone the blockade programme.

At the press conference, Hasina announced agitation programmes during these three days as part of the ongoing movements.

The 14-party will hold mourning processions wearing black badges today across the country to protest the killing of Wajiullah and a rally in front of Nabisco in Tejgaon in memory of Wajiullah tomorrow.

Special prayer will be offered at all mosques, churches and other places of worship tomorrow for a congenial atmosphere for a free and fair election. A countrywide demonstration will be held on November 18 to press home the demands of the alliance.

"We can feel the people's sufferings due to the blockade programmes, but we have no alternatives," Hasina said. She held President Iajuddin Ahmed responsible for all the sufferings as he did not take any steps to meet the nation's demands.

Hasina urged both Iajuddin and CEC MA Aziz not to increase people's sufferings and meet the demands to create a congenial atmosphere for a free and fair election.

The chief adviser must act neutrally, Hasina said, adding, "If the president fails to function as the chief adviser without directives from a special quarter, then he must appoint a non-partisan person in the post."

She said all political parties--except BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami--and people from all walks of life have reached a consensus that a free and fair election is not possible unless the CEC resigns and the EC is reconstituted. She asked the CEC for whose interests he has been sticking to his position.

The AL president demanded immediate exclusion of the 1.40 crore fake voters from the updated voter list and inclusion of eligible persons in it, arrangements for transparent ballot box, and withdrawal of 300 politically appointed upazila election officers.

She demanded arrest and punishment of the corrupt persons and those responsible for all grenade and bomb attacks in the last five years.

She also demanded immediate removal of the officials loyal to and benefited by the immediate past BNP-Jamaat alliance government from both the civil and police administration and filling the posts with honest, eligible and deprived officials.

Hasina alleged that the chief adviser has been following directives of a certain quarter rather than fulfilling the people's expectation through his activities in the last 15 days.

She asked why and upon whose direction the decision of the caretaker government advisory council to transfer the home secretary was suspended.

She said the 14-party alliance has still been showing patience even after 24 of its leaders and workers have been killed since October 26. She warned of bad consequences if any more of their leaders is killed or tortured.

Asked if the 14-party alliance will accept any reconstitution of the EC by keeping the CEC and appointing more election commissioners, Hasina said, "...then it has not been reconstituted."

She said as the BNP-Jamaat coalition knows very well that people will not vote them in the next election, they are conspiring to rig the election with the help of the CEC and the politically appointed election commissioners and election officers.

Any move by the BNP-Jamaat coalition to rig the next election will be resisted, she said, urging the countrymen to be united to protect their democratic rights of franchise.

Hasina described the five-year rule of the BNP-Jamaat alliance government as a "complete failure" that witnessed skyrocketing price of essentials, unbridled corruption, rise of militancy, acute shortage of power, politicisation, political and extra judicial killings, and looting of public wealth.

Senior 14-party leaders Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, Abdur Razzak, Tofail Ahmed, Abdul Jalil, Suranjit Sengupta, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Obaidul Quader, Rashed Khan Menon and Hasanul Haque Inu were present at the press conference.

FBCCI, BGMEA hail 14-party for halting blockade Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) and Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association yesterday hailed the 14-party combine for postponing its nonstop blockade