Bangladesh Election Today: Sheikh Hasina Set To Retain Power As Opposition Boycott (image-twitter/albd1971)
Voting for the general election in Bangladesh began on Sunday amid opposition parties’ boycott. The country’s prime minister Sheikh Hasina eyes for her fourth term in the parliament and the fifth for overall for the Awami League-led alliance.
Country’s main opposition parties- the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and few other parties have announced the boycott of the polls. In addition to the boycott, the BNP has also called for a two-day nationwide strike from Saturday.
The opposition party has also called out on the public to boycott the polls alleging that the ruling party has propped up “dummy” candidates in an attempt to make the election look credible. But this allegation was denied by the ruling party.
Amidst polls, tension has risen in Bangladesh since October. Massive anti-government rally demanding resignation of Sheikh Hassina and a caretaker government to oversee election took place. Meanwhile, the Hassina’s administration rejected the proposal claiming that there was no constitutional provision to allow a caretaker government.
The voting will begin at 8 am and will end at 5 pm. The results are expected to be out on January 8 onwards. According to the country’s election commission, a total of 119.6 million registered voters are eligible to vote and over 42,000 polling stations are deployed.
More than 1,500 candidates from 27 political parties are contesting in the election besides 436 independent candidates. Opposition Jatiya Party (JAPA) is included in the 27 political parties that are contesting elections. The rest are the members of the Awami League-led coalition who are largely called as “satellite parties” by experts.
Bangladesh’s chief election commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal has warned that the election would be called of if any kind of irregularities are found during the polling process. He while addressing the nation on Saturday said that vote rigging, ballot snatching, money transactions, and possible use of muscle power in favour of any candidate or candidates is strictly resisted, reports PTI.
Sheikh Hasina’s government ahead of the election, arrested ten thousand of rival politicians and supporters. The government officials but argued that the arrest was based on specific criminal charges and not because of political affiliations.
