'Sham', 'No Fair' Elections: Why Bangladesh’s opposition is boycotting polls

Bangladesh is set to hold general elections on 7 January. The Election Commission announced polling will be held in 299 constituencies out of 300 in the Muslim-majority country. As per the law, an election in one constituency was postponed after an independent candidate died of natural causes. This time, 5.1 per cent of the total candidates are women — the highest such share ever, Reuters reported. About 120 million registered voters will decide the fate of 1,896 candidates in the fray, as per CNBC-TV18. Approximately half of voters are women, and 15 million of them are first-time voters. This year, ballot stations are opening amid an increasingly polarised political culture led by two powerful women; current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Opposition leader and former premier Khaleda Zia. Posing a new challenge to the ruling Awami League party, the main opposition party has called for national strikes this weekend and is pushing voters to join its boycott. Let’s take a closer look at why the Opposition has called for the election boycott. Opposition calls for election boycott According to AP, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), headed by Zia, and other opposition parties are boycotting the upcoming election, saying there is no guarantee it will be free, fair and inclusive under Hasina’s administration. For those unversed, the BNP had boycotted the 2014 election but took part in the 2018 polls, as per Hindustan Times. According to PTI, with the latest strike, the BNP aims to garner support for its non-cooperation movement against the Awami Party-led dispensation through the strike. It has urged people not to pay taxes and utility bills to press its demand for a non-party interim government for election oversight by amending the country’s Constitution. Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, a senior joint secretary general in Zia’s party, urged people not to vote on Sunday while calling for strikes. “The 48-hour hartal (general strike) will begin at 6 am on Saturday and end at 6 am on Monday,” he said on Thursday night in a virtual press briefing as last-minute preparations were underway for the 12th general elections. The strike calls for the “resignation of the illegal government, establishment of a non-party neutral government and release of all party leaders and activists from prison (Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Standing Committee Member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, who were arrested over charges of violence),” he added. [caption id=“attachment_13583462” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Sheikh Hasina has been in power for 15 straight years –- the longest-serving leader in the country’s history. Reuters[/caption] On Friday morning, Rizvi led more than 100 Opposition leaders and activists, holding sticks, marched in the Capital’s Karwan Bazar area while chanting anti-government slogans. “People will not accept this illegal election. People will not accept this election of looters,” he said during the march. On the same day, a group of about 100 left-leaning political activists strode near Dhaka’s National Press Club, demanding the government halt a “farcical election,” the report said. Zia’s elder son and BNP’s acting chairperson Tarique Rahman, who has been in self-exile since 2007 in the UK, called the polls a “sham” that was meant to solidify Sheikh Hasina’s leadership. In 2023, his party staged a months-long protest to call for Sheikh Hasina’s resignation. During the protest campaign, at least 11 people were killed and thousands of his supporters were arrested. Speaking with AFP, Rahman said that it would be inappropriate for his party to contest in polls with a ‘predetermined’ outcome. Western nations, such as the US, which sanctioned Bangladeshi security forces in 2021 over claims of violating human rights, have called for democratic elections, but rights organisations have warned that the 170 million-people nation is on the verge of virtual one-party rule in response to the Opposition’s call for a boycott, as per The Guardian. The opposition has consistently called for Hasina’s removal and the appointment of an impartial caretaker government to supervise the poll. According to AP, the current government, however, claimed that was against the country’s constitution. Hasina’s critics claim that she is systematically suppressing the opposition by enforcing harsh security measures. More than 20,000 Opposition supporters, according to Zia’s party, have been taken into custody. The government claimed that numbers were exaggerated and refuted claims that arrests were made for crimes like arson and vandalism rather than because of political opinions. Sheikh Hasina seeks forgiveness Hasina, who has been in power for 15 straight years – the longest-serving leader in the country’s history – addressed the nation in a last televised campaign speech, urging people to head to the ballot stations. “If I have made any mistakes along the way, I ask your forgiveness. If I can form the government again, I will get a chance to correct the mistakes. Give me an opportunity to serve you by voting for boat (the election symbol of her party) in the 7 January election,” she said. With 302 seats, the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League secured a fourth term in the country’s general elections in 2018. The Jatiya Party, with just 26 seats, was elected as the opposition party. Voter turnout was 80 per cent back then. According to CNBC-TV18, Hasina, in power since 2009, is credited with restoring Bangladesh’s $416 billion economy and its garment industry during her tenure. Many also lauded her for providing refuge to about a million Muslims who were Rohingya. However, Bangladesh’s economy was rocked by violent protests in recent times after a jump in the cost of living as the country struggled to pay for costly energy imports amid weakening domestic currency and depleting dollar reserves, Reuters reported. Earlier on Thursday, Hasina, addressing a huge campaign rally at Fatullah near Dhaka, urged all to maintain peace across the country. Violence marred the campaigns that started on 18 December, leaving at least three people dead and others injured. [caption id=“attachment_13583492” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Supporters of Bangladesh’s ruling party and its 13 allies denouncing the violence by the Opposition, rally in Dhaka. 30 October 2023. AP[/caption] Since the Russia-Ukraine war increased the cost of fuel and food imports, the economy has also slowed significantly, leading Bangladesh to request a $4.7 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund last year, explained The Guardian. Heightened security arrangements for the controversial election The International Crisis Group, an independent think tank, stated that even though voter turnout was expected to be low, there was a high chance of political violence. “The election will not resolve Bangladesh’s political crisis. Since the 2008 election that brought the Awami League to power, the country has not held a credible national election,” The Guardian quoted Pierre Prakash, its Asia director, as saying. Chief election commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal in a closed-door meeting briefed foreign envoys and chiefs of development agencies, including the United Nations, based in Dhaka about electoral preparations. Local media reported that some diplomats asked about how potential violence will be dealt with. Nearly 1.6 million people — half of them security personnel — will oversee the election where 119.1 million registered voters are eligible to vote in more than 42,000 polling stations, the commission said. [caption id=“attachment_13583602” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] People are stuck in traffic alongside a metro rail pillar with a graffiti of Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh during the formation day celebration of Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student wing of Bangladesh Awami League, at the University of Dhaka, ahead of the general election in Dhaka. Reuters[/caption] Nearly 750,000 police, paramilitary, and police auxiliary personnel will be keeping a close eye on the polls. For the polls, the nation has also invited officials from the army, navy, and air force, as per CNBC-TV18. Additionally, as is customary in Bangladesh during general elections, troops have been stationed throughout the nation to provide assistance as required, all while being supervised by magistrates. The Election Commission said about 300 foreign observers, more than 70 of them are foreign journalists have been authorised to monitor and cover the election, according to AP. How fair are elections in Bangladesh The Sheikh Hasina-led party has also been accused of fielding “dummies” and asking voters to show up on election day. According to Al Jazeera, a “group of officials in plain clothes” allegedly threatened Hasanul Islam Ador, an elected representative in the southern Cox’s Bazar district, telling him to “stop campaigning” against Zafar Alam, an independent candidate running in the national election. Alam now serves as an Awami League representative in parliament for Cox’s Bazar. The party leadership asked him to run as an independent after he was unable to win his party’s nomination for the current election. According to a recent Al Jazeera report, he is one of hundreds of alleged “dummy” candidates that the party is reportedly supporting in order to give the impression that the election is free and fair. Zia, the BNP chairperson, has been debarred from politics and is effectively under house arrest to serve a 17-year prison term handed down by a court on two graft charges. The 79-year-old ex-prime minister is now in a hospital with multiple health issues. As a result of the election boycott, Hasina appears to be heading towards her fourth consecutive term in office. With inputs from agencies