Bangladesh`s army-backed government said Wednesday it would not change the date for next month`s elections despite a threat from a major political force to boycott polls unless they were delayed.

Foreign Minister Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury told AFP that talks between parties and the government to resolve the boycott threat from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies had not reached an agreement.

`We have not been able to reach a consensus between the two major political forces and as a result the schedule for December 18 elections has not been changed,` he said.

Earlier Wednesday, the election commission said it was prepared to delay the polls by 10 days.

`We are prepared to hold polls on December 28 if the government and the parties agree,` election commissioner Sohul Hossain said.

Ministers of the army-backed government held crisis talks on Tuesday night with BNP leader Khaleda Zia, who heads a four-party Islamist alliance.

Zia wants the government to lift emergency rule and has asked for a new timetable for the polls. She has also threatened to boycott the election if her demands are not met.

Analysts have said that without the BNP alliance, which won a two-thirds majority in the last polls in 2001, voters would not consider the elections fair, and the smooth transition to democracy the government wants would be in jeopardy.

Government ministers also met with Sheikh Hasina Wajed, leader of the Awami League party, who has committed her party to going to the December 18 polls. Any change in date would have needed the blessing of her and her allies.

The government, in power since emergency rule was imposed in January 2007, has promised it will restore democracy in the impoverished South Asian nation by the end of the year.

The government has pushed through key electoral and political reforms including a crackdown on corruption, which saw both Zia and Sheikh Hasina detained for a year on graft charges.

Both have been released on bail in deals with the government to ensure they take part in the elections.