A parliament has been elected in Bangladesh amidst massive security precautions. According to the election commission, Prime Minister Hasina’s party is in the lead – but the largest opposition party did not show up in protest.
As expected, a clear victory for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s party is emerging in the parliamentary elections in Bangladesh. As the election commission announced, citing partial results, Hasina’s Awami League party has more than 50 percent of the seats. The counting is still ongoing, but according to media reports, the Awami League is already unassailable in the lead.
Because the largest opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), boycotted the election, the Awami League’s victory was foreseeable in advance – and thus a fifth term in office for the 76-year-old Hasina.
Thousands opposition politician arrested
The election in Bangladesh was accompanied by a massive security presence. According to official information, around 800,000 police and soldiers were deployed. Accordingly, there were around 30 incidents of violence. Police arrested at least seven troublemakers, an election commission spokesman said.
In the months before the election, the authorities in the South Asian country took massive action against the opposition. According to the BNP, its entire party leadership and approximately 25,000 other politicians were arrested. Tens of thousands more went into hiding. The government stated the number of opposition activists arrested was 11,000.
BNP leader Tarique Rahman, who leads the party from exile in London, spoke of a “sham election,” according to the AFP news agency. For this reason, his party, together with other opposition parties, decided against running in the election. Instead, large demonstrations against Hasina were organized.