A total of 141 retired government officials issued a statement calling for the cancellation of the polls schedule and the release of the opposition leaders and activists for the national interest.

The Election Commission announced the schedule according to the advice and instructions of the ruling Awami League ignoring the demands of the country's people and the democratic world, they alleged.

"We think that the Election Commission has played a supporting role in organising the one-sided election for the government," they said.

The signatories include former secretaries ASM Abdul Halim, Abdul Kaiyum, Syed Sujauddin Ahmed, and Abdur Rashid Sarker, among others.

They said that the government is taking various oppressive measures one after another with the aim of holding another one-sided election like those of 2014 and 2018.

They also called on the government to immediately release the leaders and activists of the opposition political parties to create a healthy and favourable environment.