Dhaka  - One of Bangladesh's past ruling parties on Friday voiced a seven-point charter of demands for joining the December 18 general election to return the South Asian nation to democracy, ending nearly two years of emergency rule.

"We will contest the election if the authorities ensure an atmosphere conducive for fair polls," former prime minister Khaleda Zia, the chief of Bangladesh Nationalist Party
(BNP), told a huge gathering of her supporters in the south-eastern Chittagong city.

She called upon the military-backed interim government of Fakhruddin Ahmed to meet her seven demands.

"The environment will be created only if our demands are met," said the former premier who headed Bangladesh's government for two terms between 1991-1996 and
2001-2006.

The demands among others included a call for the complete lifting of the state of emergency, the withdrawal of cases filed against the party chief and other leaders, and the release of political prisoners.

The BNP placed the demands before the government when a top-level delegation met with a chief adviser.

The BNP chief said the government says it accepted all the demands, but in practice there has been no sign of their implementation.

Khaleda however did not rule out the possibility of her joining the polls.

She said a level playing field has not been created. "Forty leaders of BNP are still in detention. Does this mean a level playing field has been created?" asked the BNP chief who also pledged a raft of measures if elected to office for a third term. (dpa)