DHAKA: Bangladesh started vote counting today after a widely criticized election that is expected to secure a fifth term for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The polls were marked by the absence of opposition, with the leading opposition party boycotting the election, calling it a “sham.”
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, 76, has overseen economic growth but faced allegations of human rights abuses and a severe crackdown on the opposition. The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), decimated by mass arrests, termed the election a farce, declaring a general strike and urging the public to boycott the polls.
Election Commission Secretary Shariful Alam confirmed the initiation of vote counting, with results expected as early as Monday morning. Initial reports indicated low voter turnout, standing at 18.5 percent at noon, raising questions about the legitimacy of an election where one party dominated and another major party chose not to participate.
Lack of Credibility in Bangladesh Election
Critics argue that the election lacks credibility, as citizens express skepticism about the outcome given the absence of effective competition. Reports suggest inducements, including threats of welfare benefit card confiscation, to coerce voting for the ruling Awami League.
BNP head Tarique Rahman, in exile in Britain, voiced concerns about potential ballot stuffing, fearing manipulation by the election commission to inflate voter turnout.
The run-up to the election witnessed a continued crackdown on opposition figures, with mass arrests last year leading to the imprisonment of thousands of opposition cadres. Protests continued in the lead-up to the polls, although they were a fraction of the scale seen in previous rallies.
The election commission reported deploying nearly 700,000 police officers and reservists, along with almost 100,000 armed forces members, to maintain law and order during the vote.
Bangladesh’s political landscape has long been defined by the rivalry between Hasina and two-time premier Khaleda Zia. Zia, currently in ailing health at a Dhaka hospital, was convicted of graft in 2018, with her son Tarique Rahman leading the BNP from London.
