Emergency rule by a military-backed caretaker government, currently headed by Fakhruddin Ahmed, is likely to continue through 2007 and into 2008. Under a unique set of rules, the government in Bangladesh is to hand over power to a caretaker government in the months immediately preceding national elections. The Bangladesh National Party did this in 2006 in the lead up to the scheduled January 2007 election. The current political situation came about after emergency rule was declared by President Iajuddin Ahmed following protests and strikes by opposition parties in the lead up to the January 2007 elections. This led to the installation of the present military-backed caretaker government. The Awami League (AL), which was in opposition to the previous Bangladesh National Party (BNP) government, protested irregularities in the voter list in the lead up to the election that was scheduled for January 2007. These irregularities were independently confirmed by the National Democratic Institute (NDI): The [NDI] delegation is deeply concerned that the new Voters' List runs to over 93 million names, a size that is substantially inconsistent with the 2001 census data. A Voters' List containing two-thirds of the population strains credibility ... on the basis of the 2001 Census, the voting age population was approximately 80 million people. The current military-backed caretaker government has stated that it wishes to hold elections in 2008 after implementing electoral reforms to include a new voter list and improved voter identification. Observers believe that the military has been reluctant to play a more direct role for fear of jeopardizing its lucrative international peacekeeping work. Some observers are already concerned that elections may be further delayed. According to Brad Adams, Asia Director for Human Rights Watch, the army is running the country and does not intend to relinquish power in the near future. It has been reported that as many as 200,000 people, including leading politicians, have been jailed under the emergency. Disillusionment among Bangladeshis with the two traditional ruling political parties, the Awami League led by Sheikh Hasina and the Bangladesh National Party led by Khaleda Zia, meant that emergency rule has been broadly welcomed by the populace. Zia was prime minister from 1991 to 1996 and from 2001 to 2006, while Hasina was prime minister from 1996 to 2001. There are reportedly signs that discontent may emerge should elections be indefinitely delayed. Bangladesh's economy is projected to grow by approximately 6% through 2008 despite the political turmoil. Under its anti-corruption drive the caretaker government has moved decisively against the established political parties. This has the potential to fundamentally change the political landscape of Bangladesh. Bangladesh has for many years been one of the world's most corrupt nations. Charges have now been brought against both AL leader Hasina as well as Zia of the BNP. Hasina was arrested on charges of extortion while Zia was charged with tax evasion on July 16, 2007. Hussein Muhamad Ershad of the Jatiya Party has also recently retired from politics. Some observers question the caretaker government's motives and commitment to restore democracy in Bangladesh in light of these moves. In recent commentary in the Daily Star of Bangladesh it has been asserted that "... it now seems clearer than ever that the oligopoly of the existing political parties is what the current administration is intent on breaking up." Concern has also been raised that the caretaker government may have unintentionally created a vacuum through its anti-corruption assault on the established parties that the relatively unscathed Islamist parties may be well positioned to fill. The Election Commission is moving forward with voter identity cards that reportedly will include photographs of each individual. This is a process that is thought will take at least a year to implement in Bangladesh, a nation with 147 million people and high illiteracy. Restrictions on political assembly remain in force in Bangladesh. Many have hoped that the state of emergency could begin to be lifted. Allowing indoor political meetings would be one way to initiate a lifting of the state of emergency. The roughly even split in support for the AL and the BNP has given small Islamist parties, some of which have ties to violent Islamist radicals, a disproportionate voice in Bangladesh's government and politics in recent years. Islamists support the imposition of Sharia law in Bangladesh. While Islam has served as a legitimizing political force in Bangladesh, which is 88% Muslim, the present military-backed caretaker government has emphasized anti-corruption as a legitimizing concept and has demonstrated its resolve to fight radical Islamists. This has included the execution of previously captured violent extremist leaders. The country's two main Islamist militant groups are the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen and the Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB), both of which were outlawed under the previous BNP government. Army forces captured Habibur Rahman Bulbuli in June 2007. Bulbuli was leader of the Khelafat Majlish that is a component of the Islamiya Okiya Jote, which was a junior partner in the former BNP government of Khaleda Zia. Bulbuli has claimed to be a veteran of fighting in Afghanistan and a follower of Osama bin Laden. In June 2007, Bangladesh police charged Mufti Hannan and three accomplices, who are all now in prison, with trying to assassinate the British High Commissioner Anwar Choudhury in 2004. Choudhury, who is of Bangladeshi origin, was wounded in a grenade attack as were some 50 others. Three were also killed in the attack which occurred at a shrine near Choudhury's ancestral home. The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) reportedly captured four suspected members of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, as well as grenades and explosives, near Kishoregani northwest of Dhaka on July 18, 2007. A United Nations Counter Terror Assessment Team traveled to Bangladesh in June 2007. It will reportedly make recommendations on what technical assistance is needed by Bangladesh. The intense and at times violent political rivalry between the country's two main political parties, the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) and the Awami League (AL), and the presence of radical Islamist parties and groups, have defined Bangladesh's poor political environment in recent years. Other challenges facing Bangladesh include rampant corruption, dysfunctional parliamentary government, a weak judiciary, poor human rights, communal conflict, periodic environmental disasters, and poverty. An understanding of the close political balance between the two main parties in the last election is necessary to understand the political maneuvering that has taken place in the lead-up to the elections that were scheduled for January 22, 2007. Bangladesh has a 300 seat unicameral national parliament known as the Jatiya Sangsad. During the last election, held on October 1, 2001, the Bangladesh National Party (BNP), led by Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, and its alliance partners won 41% of votes. The BNP's alliance partners in that election included the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), the Islamiya Okiya Jote (IOJ) and the Jatiya Party (JP) - Manzur Faction. They were opposed by the Awami League, led by Sheikh Hasina, which won 40% of the vote. The number of seats won by party were as follows: BNP: 193, AL: 58, JI: 17, JP (Ershad Faction): 14, IOJ: 2, JP (Manzur Faction): 4, and others: 12. Elections in Bangladesh are to be held every five years. Bangladesh has instituted a provision for the President to appoint an interim government in the immediate lead-up to polls in order to prevent the incumbent government from using the powers of office to unfair political advantage. The United Kingdom Parliamentary Human Rights Group reported in October 2006 that prospects for a free and fair election in Bangladesh looked "bleak." Others have agreed with this assessment. Manipulation of voters lists, rampant and escalating political violence, the assassination of former finance Minister Shah AMS Kibria, the attempt on the British High Commissioner's life, grenade attacks against AL leader Hasina, the suicide bombing of two judges, the simultaneous bombings across the country in August 2005, and killings by the elite Rapid Action Battalion have been identified as sources of instability and reasons for pessimism on the democratic process in Bangladesh. Former Prime Minister Sheik Hasina of the Awami League heads an alliance that sought to wrest power from the former BNP government headed by Khaleda Zia. Hasina and the Awami League alliance threatened to boycott the January 22 elections. The Awami league held large scale demonstrations in December 2006 to highlight their demands, which included a revision of the voter list. The traditionally more secular of the two main political parties, the Awami League, reportedly signed an agreement with the Khelafat Majlis, considered by some to be a pro-Taliban style Islamist group, in the lead-up to the polls scheduled for January 2007. Former General Hussein Muhamad Ershad, who ruled Bangladesh from 1982 to 1990, had joined the AL to contest the election but was deemed a fugitive of justice by the government after fleeing corruption charges. Some had viewed Ershad as a possible kingmaker, or, in the case of Bangladesh, a queenmaker, in the scheduled but postponed polls of January 2007. Former U.S.