Dhaka, Dec. 6 -- As Bangladesh moves toward the general elections scheduled for February, a renewed debate has surfaced over whether BNP's exiled acting chairman Tarique Rahman can be enlisted as a voter - and whether this would enable him to contest the polls after more than 16 years abroad.

The discussion intensified on Friday after Attorney General Md Asaduzzaman said it was "irrelevant" to question Tarique's voter status, arguing that his intention to contest the election presumes he remains a Bangladeshi citizen with full electoral rights.

"Since he has sought to run in the election, it must be assumed he is a citizen and a voter of Bangladesh," Asaduzzaman told reporters in Jhenaidah after attending the founding anniversary of Haj...