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Bangladesh PM Hasina wins thumping victory in elections opposition reject as 'farcical' | Bangladesh PM Hasina wins thumping victory in elections opposition reject as 'farcical' |
(35 minutes later) | |
Bangladesh’s opposition has rejected the “farcical” results of national elections officially declared to have been won by the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, in a landslide. | Bangladesh’s opposition has rejected the “farcical” results of national elections officially declared to have been won by the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, in a landslide. |
The Bangladesh election commission said early on Monday that Hasina’s Awami League had won a record third consecutive term, taking along with its allies 288 of the country’s 298 parliamentary seats on offer. | The Bangladesh election commission said early on Monday that Hasina’s Awami League had won a record third consecutive term, taking along with its allies 288 of the country’s 298 parliamentary seats on offer. |
The thumping margin was framed as an endorsement of Hasina, 71, a dynastic leader who has overseen booming economic growth but is accused of running an authoritarian government that allows human rights abuses to flourish. | The thumping margin was framed as an endorsement of Hasina, 71, a dynastic leader who has overseen booming economic growth but is accused of running an authoritarian government that allows human rights abuses to flourish. |
Bangladesh election: Sheikh Hasina heads for tainted victory | Bangladesh election: Sheikh Hasina heads for tainted victory |
The Awami League’s main rival, the Bangladesh National party (BNP), and its allies won only seven seats in the country’s first contested election in a decade, one marred by weeks of violence, the mass arrest of opposition activists and the deaths of at least 17 party workers and police on polling day. | |
Allegations of voting irregularities including polling booths closing for “lunch breaks”, voters being turned away, and ballots being counted unrealistically quickly were widespread. | Allegations of voting irregularities including polling booths closing for “lunch breaks”, voters being turned away, and ballots being counted unrealistically quickly were widespread. |
Local media published accounts by correspondents who claimed to have witnessed Awami League members stuffing ballot boxes in the presence of police and election officials. | Local media published accounts by correspondents who claimed to have witnessed Awami League members stuffing ballot boxes in the presence of police and election officials. |
The opposition signalled it would reject the results even before the polls had closed on Sunday, and was due to meet on Monday to decide its next move. | |
“We call upon the election commission to declare this farcical election void and demand a fresh election under a neutral government,” said Kamal Hossain, who coordinates an alliance of opposition parties that was hoping to unseat Hasina. | “We call upon the election commission to declare this farcical election void and demand a fresh election under a neutral government,” said Kamal Hossain, who coordinates an alliance of opposition parties that was hoping to unseat Hasina. |
Jahangir Kabir Nanak, the joint secretary of the Awami League, said the opposition had been “rejected by the people of Bangladesh” and that its refusal to accept voting results was “not unusual”. | Jahangir Kabir Nanak, the joint secretary of the Awami League, said the opposition had been “rejected by the people of Bangladesh” and that its refusal to accept voting results was “not unusual”. |
“It is their old habit,” he told Reuters. “We thought they would welcome this election for a change. But they could not change their habit.” | “It is their old habit,” he told Reuters. “We thought they would welcome this election for a change. But they could not change their habit.” |
Hasina’s office told a local media outlet the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, was the first foreign leader to call with congratulations. The Awami League is traditionally more inclined towards India, the region’s major power, than the BNP. | Hasina’s office told a local media outlet the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, was the first foreign leader to call with congratulations. The Awami League is traditionally more inclined towards India, the region’s major power, than the BNP. |
Bangladesh’s 11th general election was the latest chapter in a history of political unrest for the country that will celebrate the half-century of its existence in two years’ time. The country freed itself in a bloody liberation war with Pakistan that still resonates and defines its political landscape. | Bangladesh’s 11th general election was the latest chapter in a history of political unrest for the country that will celebrate the half-century of its existence in two years’ time. The country freed itself in a bloody liberation war with Pakistan that still resonates and defines its political landscape. |
Violence is a persistent feature of its politics and the country has alternated between fragile forms of democracy and several bouts of military rule. Its first prime minister, Hasina’s father Mujibur Rahman, was murdered in an army coup in 1975 along with most of the family while Hasina was out of the country. | Violence is a persistent feature of its politics and the country has alternated between fragile forms of democracy and several bouts of military rule. Its first prime minister, Hasina’s father Mujibur Rahman, was murdered in an army coup in 1975 along with most of the family while Hasina was out of the country. |
For more than two decades, Hasina has traded power with Khaleda Zia, the head of the BNP whose war hero husband Ziaur Rahman was assassinated while serving as prime minister in 1981. | For more than two decades, Hasina has traded power with Khaleda Zia, the head of the BNP whose war hero husband Ziaur Rahman was assassinated while serving as prime minister in 1981. |
But Hasina has cemented her dominance in the past decade, using the state tools at her disposal to weaken the BNP and its organs, clamp down on judicial and media dissent and mostly check the country’s small but potent Islamist movement. | But Hasina has cemented her dominance in the past decade, using the state tools at her disposal to weaken the BNP and its organs, clamp down on judicial and media dissent and mostly check the country’s small but potent Islamist movement. |
Zia is currently serving a prison sentence after being convicted twice this year of corruption. Her son, Tarique Rahman, is in exile in London after being sentenced to life in prison for his part in a plot to assassinate Hasina. | |
The BNP was also accused of perpetrating human rights abuses during its rule but rights group say Hasina’s clampdown on dissent has been more systematic and effective at hobbling her opponents. | |
Her dominance has contributed to a period of relative political stability that has helped the country’s economy grow at more than 6% each year thanks largely to the garment industry that makes up more than four fifths of Bangladesh’s exports. | |
Foreign direct investment has remained low, however, due to poor infrastructure, corruption, policy uncertainty as well as lingering concerns about the country’s politics. | |
Poverty rates have fallen and the country’s GDP has grown by 150% in the past decade. But some analysts say the wealth is not spreading fast enough and has not translated into more resilient or transparent public institutions, deepening popular disquiet. | |
Dhaka was brought to a standstill by protests twice this year, in April over the inaccessibility of government jobs and in August by the lack of enforcement of road rules. | |
Clashes | |
Members of opposing parties clashed throughout election day. At least eight people died in scuffles between party workers, and police shot another three. A member of an auxiliary security force was also killed by activists from the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist party (BNP), police alleged. | |
Bangladesh’s election commission told Reuters it was investigating allegations of vote-rigging coming from across the country. | |
Hossain said Hasina had changed while in power. “The urge for power can make someone who’s human into something less than human,” he told the Associated Press in an interview. | Hossain said Hasina had changed while in power. “The urge for power can make someone who’s human into something less than human,” he told the Associated Press in an interview. |
Bangladesh | Bangladesh |
South and Central Asia | South and Central Asia |
Sheikh Hasina | Sheikh Hasina |
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