The Bangladesh government has announced that it would lift the state of emergency in the country, promulgated nearly two years ago, from Dec 17.

It will be lifted before the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for Dec 29.

The cabinet-level Commerce Adviser to the Bangladesh caretaker government Hossain Zillur Rahman made the announcement at a press conference in Dhaka on Wednesday.

He said the government also decided to lift restrictions on meetings and rallies from Dec 12 to enable conduct of election campaigns.

The government took the decision to withdraw emergency with the approval of President Iajuddin Ahmed.

The announcement came one day before the last date of withdrawal of candidatures for the ninth parliament elections.

All major political parties have been demanding the lifting of the state of emergency before the elections.