ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Friday, February 16, 1996              TAG: 9602160044
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL   PAGE: A-6  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: DHAKA, BANGLADESH

BOYCOTT RE-ELECTS ZIA BY DEFAULT

Prime Minister Khaleda Zia headed toward victory by default Thursday when rivals boycotted a violence-plagued election that independent monitors said was ``flawed from the beginning.''

At least 15 people were killed Thursday in election-related violence, bringing the death toll to 38 in the past three weeks. Rioting forced election officials to nullify the vote in more than 800 polling stations.

With no serious candidates running against it, Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party was ensured of a landslide. The party swept all of the first 15 seats declared by the Election Commission, winning nearly all the valid votes cast. In all, 252 seats were contested.

Opposition leader Sheikh Hasina said the government had ``lost its legitimacy and authority to govern,'' and called for new elections within 90 days conducted by a caretaker government headed by the Supreme Court chief justice.

- Associated Press

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