Bangladesh election: PM Sheikh Hasina wins fourth term in controversial vote

In a contentious election, Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Hasina Sheikh won her third right term.

After her group, the Awami League, and its allies won 152 of the 300 disputed parliamentary seats, Ms. Hasina does hold office for an additional five years.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the main opposition, boycotted the elections and claimed that the election was a” sham.”

The outcome on Sunday follows widespread detentions of BNP leaders and supporters.

The Jatiya Party won eight votes, while Politicians won 45 tickets.

It is Ms. Hasina’s second term in office overall. She was initially elected prime minister in 1996, was re-elected in 2009, and has served in that capacity ever since.

According to Human Rights Watch, nearly 10,000 activists were detained after an opposition march on October 28 became violent, killing at least 16 people and injuring more than 5,500 others.

According to HRW top Asia scientist Julia Bleckner,” state authorities are instantly filling prisons with the ruling Awami League’s social opponents while the government is claiming to undertake to free and fair elections with political partners.”

These complaints have been refuted by the Awami League, with Law Minister Anisul Huq stating that” some of the circumstances go back to violent incidents that occurred during the 2001 and 2014 primaries.”

There have been concerns that the Awami League’s recent triumph could result in the de facto establishment of one group rule.

Some people anticipate the state softening its assault. Even more so if civil society organizations and opposition functions keep raising concerns about the legitimacy of the government.

After the Awami League rejected their requests for an impartial caretaker authorities to oversee the elections, the BNP abstained from voting.

Tarique Rahman, the BNP’s acting president, sent an email to the BBC from London, where he has resided since 2008, stating that “our calm and non-violent action will rapidly remain until then.”

Mr. Rahman, the bitter rival of Ms. Hasina and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, even refuted claims that members of the BNP party were involved in fire problems prior to the election.

Ms. Zia is currently being held in custody at home on corruption-related costs.

Mr. Rahman was given a life sentence in 2018 after being found guilty in absentia of planning the 2004 rocket attack on Ms. Hasina’s campaign rally. At least 20 people died in that affair, including Ms. Hasina.

All accusations made against me are unfounded and motivated by political retaliation, he declared.

Additionally, the BNP has urged citizens to abstain from voting.

However, Ms. Hasina’s supporters insist that she has brought Bangladesh much-needed social stability.

” This political balance has been provided by the political process, which we have continued.” I believe Hasina Sheikh deserves praise for that, Mr. Huq said.

The confidence that Ms. Hasina has instilled in the minds of the people of Bangladesh is her second greatest accomplishment over the past 15 years. They now have self-confidence,” he continued.

Bangladesh under Ms. Hasina paints a different image. Under her command, the Muslim-majority country, which was once one of the poorest in the world, has been achieving respectable economic success since 2009.

Its economy is currently one of the fastest-growing in the area, actually outpacing that of its enormous neighbor India. According to the World Bank, more than 25 million people have been helped out of hunger over the past 20 years, and its per capita income has tripled in the last ten years. Additionally, it ranks as the second-largest cloth producer in the world after China.

However, the epidemic and a global economic slowdown caused the economy to spiral out of control in the middle of 2022.

The state may find it difficult to combat open consequences due to rising inflation and the problems for an IMF loan it took earlier to kick in.

International force is also starting to increase.

Washington started restricting visas to Bangladeshi authorities in September after concluding that they were responsible for undermining the nation’s democratic election process.

Concerns about opposition suppression and human rights violations have also been raised by the UN and other international organizations.

However, Ms. Hasina is conscious that any hazard of significant Western sanctions may be met as long as India supports her.

Established nations are also aware that millions of workers, the majority of whom are women, may be affected by any removal of compromises to Bangladesh’s cloth industry.

In 1996, Ms. Hasina took office as the nation’s premier minister. She was re-elected in 2009 and has held that position ever since, making her the longest-serving president in Bangladeshi story.

She may be 81 years old by the end of her name as prime minister, and many in Bangladesh, including adherents of the Awami League, are wondering who will achieve her.

The election result was obvious, but the potential appears questionable, as some analysts put it.