Dhaka,  - Bangladesh's military-backed government may relax the prolonged state of emergency early November to hold the country's stalled parliamentary polls in December, an adviser to the interim administration said on Tuesday.

After a meeting with a European Commission delegation in Dhaka, the country's foreign affairs adviser said that the government would make an announcement relaxing the emergency rule in November, when a 10-member EU-core team will visit Bangladesh to assess the election atmosphere.

A 10-member EU team is expected to arrive on a two-day visit to Bangladesh on November 6 to weigh up the situation to decide whether the EU will send mission to monitor the general election slated for December 18.

The adviser said that the government has earlier assured that it will relax the state of emergency, proclaimed in early January 2007 suspending civil and political rights in the wake of political violence, to allow electioneering.

But the country's major political parties - Bangladesh Nationalist Party of Khaleda Zia and Awami League of Sheikh Hasina Wajed - have been asking for complete withdrawal of the emergency to allow a peaceful election.

They also threatened to boycott polls if their demands are not addressed.

The head of the EC delegation in Dhaka, Stefan Frowein, said that he discussed the possibility of a polls monitoring mission with the foreign adviser.

He said that the EU has been waiting for an announcement from the government on the relaxation or withdrawal of the state of emergency.

Frowein told local media last week that the EU does not 'in principle' send poll observers under state of emergency.

He said the EC's 10-member core group would arrive on November 6 for two days, and a 12-member longer-term assessment team would arrive a week later. Their recommendations will be taken into consideration to decide an EU polls observation mission in Bangladesh. (dpa)