Dhaka - Bangladesh's Election Commission on Monday extended the registration deadline by five days for political parties to be able to contest the December 18 election.

"We have decided to extend the timeline of application for registration until October 20," chief election commissioner A T M Shamsul Huda said.

The decision came a day after the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led right-wing alliance requested extension of the application deadline.

The BNP and its allies Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh Jatiya Party and Islami Oikya Jote separately made the appeal to the commission.

Bangladesh's military-backed government of Fakhruddin Ahmed, which took power in January 2007, made party registration mandatory to contest the general election, which was originally scheduled for January 22 of that year. (dpa)