Bangladesh Elections: The opposition caste party was also included among the 27 political parties contesting the elections in the country. The rest are members of the ruling Awami League-led coalition, which experts described as constituents of the ‘electoral group’.
Dhaka. Bangladesh Prime Minister and Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina has been re-elected for the fifth term. His party won more than 50 percent of the votes in the election marred by violence and a boycott by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Hasina (76) has been in power since 2009 and her party Awami League also won the last election in December 2018. It was already considered certain that he would come to power for the fourth consecutive time and fifth time overall in this one-sided election.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, his wife and his three sons were murdered in their home by military officers in August 1975. His daughters Haseena and Rihanna survived the attack because they were abroad. BNP had boycotted the 2014 elections, but participated in the 2018 elections. Prime Minister Hasina’s ruling Awami League has won the elections for the fourth time in a row, because the BNP, the party of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia (78) has boycotted the elections. Khaleda is under house arrest after being convicted on corruption charges.
The opposition Jatiya Party was also included among the 27 political parties contesting the elections in the country. The rest are members of the ruling Awami League-led coalition, which experts described as constituents of the ‘electoral group’. The main opposition party BNP has called for a 48-hour nationwide general strike from 6 am on January 6 to 6 am on January 8, boycotting the elections. The party claims that no election will be fair and credible under the current government.
Chief Election Commissioner Qazi Habibul Awal said that according to initial estimates, the voting was around 40 percent, but this figure may change. Whereas in the 2018 general elections, overall voting was more than 80 percent. Despite largely peaceful voting in the election, officials and media reported incidents of arson in at least 18 locations across the country since late Friday night, 10 of which targeted polling stations.
Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Qadir claimed that people have rejected the election boycott of BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami by voting. BNP led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia boycotted the general elections held on Sunday. BNP had boycotted the 2014 elections but contested the elections in 2018. Along with this, 15 other political parties also boycotted the elections.
