Election in Bangladesh: Voting for Bangladesh's general election begins on Sunday as the country's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina seeks a fourth consecutive term and fifth overall for her Awami League-led alliance.
A picture of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is seen on the wall as officials carry ballot boxes for distribution to voting centers as part of election preparations on January 6. (Portal) {{^userSubscribed}} {{/userSubscribed}} {{ ^userSubscribed}} {{/userSubscribed}}
The elections come amid pre-poll violence and fears for more as the country's main opposition – the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) – and other like-minded parties have announced a boycott of the polls. The BNP has called for a two-day nationwide strike starting Saturday.
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Due to its allegations regarding the credibility of the elections, the opposition is boycotting the election and encouraging the public not to vote. It alleges that the ruling Awami League supported “dummy candidates” as independents to make the election appear credible, a claim the ruling party denies.
Tensions in Bangladesh have been rising since October, when a large anti-government rally demanding Hasina's resignation and an interim government to oversee the election turned violent. Hasina's government said there was no constitutional provision allowing an interim government.
Bangladesh elections: Here's everything you need to know
- Voting begins at 8 a.m. (local time) across Bangladesh and ends at 5 p.m. The results are expected to be available from January 8th.
- According to the country's election commission, a total of 119.6 million registered voters are eligible to vote at more than 42,000 polling stations on Sunday.
- More than 1,500 candidates from 27 political parties and 436 independent candidates are taking part in the election.
{{^userSubscribed}} {{/userSubscribed}} {{^userSubscribed}} {{/userSubscribed}} On January 6, 2024, on the eve of the general election in Bangladesh, men walk past a wall and call on people to get in Dhaka to choose. (AFP)
- The opposition Jatiya Party (JAPA) is among the 27 political parties taking part in the elections. The rest are members of the ruling coalition led by the Awami League, which experts also refer to as “satellite parties.”
- Violence erupted on the eve of the election when a passenger train was set on fire, leaving four people dead. According to the Dhaka Tribune, several incidents of arson attacks on buildings were also reported across the country.Also read | Bangladesh Elections 2024: Process, Parties and Problems
- Bangladesh's Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Kazi Habibul Awal, has warned that elections will be called if irregularities are found in the electoral process.
- Addressing the nation on Saturday evening, he said that according to PTI, election fraud, ballot paper snatching, monetary transactions and possible use of muscle power in favor of one or more candidates would be strictly opposed.
- In the run-up to the election, Hasina's government arrested tens of thousands of rival politicians and supporters. Government officials argue that the arrests were not based on political affiliation but on specific criminal charges such as arson, the Associated Press reported.
{{^userSubscribed}} {{/userSubscribed}} {{^userSubscribed}} {{/userSubscribed}} Security officers stand guard at a ballot box distribution center in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on January 6. (AP)
- Over 100 foreign observers, including three from India, will monitor the 12th general election, which will be held amid tight security.
- Hasina has led one of the world's fastest-growing economies in South Asia for the past 15 years. She has been in power since 2009 and won the last election in December 2018, an election marked by violence and allegations of vote fraud.
- The country's economy, once among the world's fastest-growing, was rocked by violent protests in 2022 after the cost of living rose due to the global economic slowdown.
- This forced Hasina's government to desperately seek support from the International Monetary Fund as foreign reserves were depleted as an energy crisis and high inflation triggered a balance of payments crisis.
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