Bangladesh: Sheikh Hasina has been re-elected for fifth time after polls without opposition

Officials announced that Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister of Bangladesh, has been re-elected for a fifth term on Sunday, defying a boycott spearheaded by an opposition party that she called a “terrorist organisation.” An Election Commission spokesperson told AFP in the early hours of Monday morning that Hasina’s ruling Awami League “has won the election,” following a vote that preliminary estimates indicated had a pitiful turnout of about 40%. She has overseen a nation that was once gripped by extreme poverty to experience rapid economic progress, but her administration has come under fire for widespread violations of human rights and a vicious assault on dissent. In the seats it campaigned for, her party had very few viable opponents, but it chose not to run candidates in a few districts, ostensibly to avoid the legislature being labelled a one-party institution. Along with dozens of other opposition parties, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) declared a national strike and declined to take part in a “sham election” as their ranks had been severely eroded by mass arrests. At least 220 of the 300 seats were won by Hasina’s party, according to election commission officials, however the precise results and final count will be publicly declared at a ceremony later on Monday. But Hasina’s hold on power in parliament may be strengthened with the backing of additional MPs, particularly those from ally parties. ‘Disgrace’ Hasina, 76, had called for citizens to show faith in the democratic process. “The BNP is a terrorist organisation,” she told reporters after casting her vote. “I am trying my best to ensure that democracy should continue in this country.” First-time voter Amit Bose, 21, said he had cast his ballot for his “favourite candidate”, but others said they had not bothered because the outcome was assured. “When one party is participating and another is not, why would I go to vote?” said rickshaw-puller Mohammad Saidur, 31. BNP head Tarique Rahman, speaking from Britain where he lives in exile, told AFP he feared “fake votes” would be used to boost voter turnout. “What unfolded was not an election, but rather a disgrace to the democratic aspirations of Bangladesh,” he wrote on social media, alleging he had seen “disturbing pictures and videos” backing his claims. Among the victors was Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh cricket team captain, who won his seat for Hasina’s party be a landslide, local officials said. Fear of ‘further crackdown’ The BNP and other parties staged months of protests last year, demanding Hasina step down ahead of the vote. Officers in the port city of Chittagong broke up an opposition protest Sunday, firing shotguns and tear gas canisters. But election officials said voting was largely peaceful, with nearly 800,000 police officers and soldiers deployed countrywide. Meenakshi Ganguly, from Human Rights Watch, said Sunday that the government had failed to reassure opposition supporters that the polls would be fair, warning that “many fear a further crackdown”. Politics in the country of 170 million people was long dominated by the rivalry between Hasina, the daughter of the country’s founding leader, and two-time premier Khaleda Zia, wife of a former military ruler. Hasina has been the decisive victor since returning to power in a 2009 landslide, with two subsequent polls accompanied by widespread irregularities and accusations of rigging. Zia, 78, was convicted of graft in 2018 and is now in ailing health at a hospital in Dhaka. BNP head Rahman is her son. ‘Dangerous combination’ Hasina has accused the BNP of arson and sabotage during last year’s protest campaign, which was mostly peaceful but saw several people killed in police confrontations. The government’s security forces have been dogged by allegations of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances – charges it rejects. Economic headwinds have left many dissatisfied with Hasina’s government, after sharp spikes in food costs and months of chronic blackouts in 2022. Pierre Prakash of the International Crisis Group said before the vote that Hasina’s government was clearly “less popular than it was a few years ago, yet Bangladeshis have little real outlet at the ballot box.” “That is a potentially dangerous combination.”