The Bangladesh military today ended almost two years of "emergency rule", vowing to step back into the shadows and hold long-promised elections later this month.
The presidential order to lift the emergency was signed at one minute past midnight – and is seen by commentators as a major step forward for the South Asian nation which has been plagued by military coups since it became independent of Pakistan in 1971.
On 29 December more than 80 million voters will have the right to choose a government in the first parliamentary election in almost eight years. The army-backed regime of technocrats was installed after street violence and political turmoil engulfed the country in January 2007.
One of the administration's first moves was to crack down on corruption, jailing many politicians , including the two formidable former prime ministers – Sheikh Hasina Wajed of the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist party's Khaleda Zia – who each spent a year in detention.
The two leaders, known as the "battling begums", are heirs to political dynasties and have alternated in power since 1991. Their public feuding has been criticised by many for distracting the country from issues such as poverty and development.
Dhaka's Daily Star, an influential English-language paper, called for both parties to display "maturity" and "responsibility" in the upcoming elections. "Now that the parties are firmly settled in the election groove, they should play their part in steering the nation to its cherished goal for attaining a truly democratic order," its leader column said.
Both parties have reason to worry about the army, which western countries tacitly backed for two years. Before local polls in the summer, the army locked up tens of thousands of people without apparent charges. Many analysts have also pointed out that politicians have turned to Islam.
Both the Awami League, seen as a centre-left moderate party, and the rightwing Bangladesh National party began their campaigns from a 15th-century Muslim shrine in the country's north-east.
Golam Hossain, a professor of political science at Jahangirnagar University, told AFP the two political leaders hoped looking as devout as possible would bring in the votes.
"Islam is being used as an effective political campaign tool for the first time here, where politicians are increasingly invoking Islamic symbols," he said.