Main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its ally Islamic fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami say they will enforce the 36-hour strike beginning at dawn Sunday.

The opposition says the government wants to repeal a provision that requires it to hand over power at the end of its term.

Under the constitution, prime ministers must step down after a five-year term to allow a nonpartisan administration to conduct new polls in three months. A former chief justice is usually chosen to head the caretaker administration.

The change would mean the next general election due in 2014 would be overseen by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

That could lead to vote-rigging to favor Hasina’s party, opposition spokesman Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said Saturday.

“The government wants to cling to power. That’s why it wants to amend the constitution,” Alamgir told reporters.

The government denies the charge.

The move came after the country’s Supreme Court ruled that the provision, included in the constitution in 1996, is undemocratic.

Since the provision’s introduction, Bangladesh has held three parliamentary polls supervised by nonpartisan interim governments.

In a speech Friday, Hasina urged the opposition to discuss the issue in parliament.

“Politics should be discussed in Parliament, not in the street,” Hasina said.

In Bangladesh, opposition groups commonly enforce general strikes to highlight their demands.