Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, 76, is heading for a fifth term after her party won parliamentary elections on Sunday, according to the electoral commission. The vote was boycotted by the main opposition party, which denounced a “false election.”
In power since 2009, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, 76, is heading for a fifth term – and fourth in a row – after winning the legislative elections on Sunday, January 7, boycotted by the main party of the opposition, which denounced a “false election.”
While Sheikh Hasina is credited with fostering meteoric economic growth in the world's eighth most populous country, once plagued by extreme poverty, her government is accused of serious human rights violations and a crackdown. ruthless against the “opposition”.
Sheikh Hasina's ruling party, the Awami League, “won more than 50% of the seats” in the unicameral parliament, a spokesperson for the electoral commission told the AFP news agency, a few hours after the vote closed.
Shortly before, Somoy TV, the largest private television network in the country of 170 million inhabitants, had announced that Hasina was assured of victory, with her allies having obtained at least 60% of the seats in Parliament.
After voting in Dhaka, Hasina called on voters to go to the polls and promised “free and fair” elections. He also denounced the boycott of the vote by the main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which he called a “terrorist organization.”
The BNP, for its part, denounced “a false election.” The vote was also boycotted by other parties, decimated, like this one, in recent months by mass arrests.
Among the elected officials of the ruling party is Shakib al-Hasan, captain of the national cricket team, the country's king sport.
The Awami League had virtually no opponents in the constituencies it contested. But in some others it did not present candidates, apparently to prevent the unicameral Parliament from being seen as the instrument of a single party.
Low involvement
The head of the national electoral commission, Habibul Awal, estimated turnout during the day at around 40%. Many Bangladeshis interviewed by AFP said they did not vote because the result was inevitable.
“Why would I go to vote when one party is participating and the other is not?” said Mohammad Saidur, a 31-year-old pedicab driver.
“We all know who will win,” added Farhana Manik, a 27-year-old student.
BNP leader Tarique Rahman denounced possible electoral fraud. “What has happened is not an election, but a shame for the democratic aspirations of Bangladesh,” he said on social media from London, where he has lived in exile since 2008, adding that he had seen “disturbing photos and videos.”
Numerous testimonies denounced various incentives, including blackmail, by the authorities to encourage participation. Some voters say they were threatened with confiscation of their government aid cards, needed to obtain social benefits, if they refused to vote for the Awami League.
“They said that since the government feeds us, we should vote for her,” Lal Mia, 64, who votes in the Faridpur district in the center of the country, told AFP.
An important safety device
The BNP and other parties protested unsuccessfully for months in late 2023 to demand the resignation of Sheikh Hasina and a neutral caretaker government to oversee the elections.
According to the party, some 25,000 opposition leaders, including all local BNP leaders, were arrested following these demonstrations, during which several people were killed in clashes with police. The Government, for its part, reported 11,000 arrests.
In the east of the country, in Chittagong, police fired shots on Sunday, without causing injuries, to disperse dozens of opposition activists who had set up a roadblock to protest against the vote, according to local police.
According to the electoral commission, nearly 700,000 police and reservists were deployed to maintain order during the vote, and nearly 100,000 soldiers.
Bangladesh security forces have long been accused of using excessive force, something the government denies.
Since returning to power in 2009, Sheikh Hasina has tightened her control following two elections marred by irregularities and allegations of fraud.
Its economic successes have long supported the popularity of politics. But difficulties have grown recently, with rising prices and widespread power outages.
With AFP
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