VFD
Bangladesh’s incumbent authoritarian Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has secured a fifth term, as expected by observers. The largest opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), boycotted the parliamentary election on Sunday, as they believe it was not fair.
The party of 76-year-old Hasina, the Awami League, has secured 223 of 298 seats in parliament, the head of the election commission, Kazi Habibul Awal, told reporters on Monday. Two more seats were not allocated due to violence during the election in one constituency and the recent death of a candidate in another.
Under Hasina’s rule since 2009, poor, Muslim-majority Bangladesh has experienced an economic upturn. Recently, however, high inflation has caused problems for many people. At the same time, the BNP and human rights organizations accuse her of targeting her opponents and critics and having thousands of them arrested. Freedom of expression and freedom of the press have also suffered under her. She is the person who has held the position of head of government in her country for the longest time.
According to the electoral commission, only 41.8 percent of the approximately 120 million eligible voters in the South Asian country with a population of 170 million cast their vote. In the previous election in 2018, more than 80 percent had done so. Before the election, the BNP had called on people not to vote, and the party did not put forward any candidates for the 300 seats in parliament.
Hasina’s party hardly had any competition.
The Prime Minister recently described the BNP as a terrorist organization and emphasized that she was fighting to preserve democracy in her country.
Hasina is the daughter of the founding father of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was murdered along with his family in a military coup in 1975. She survived because she was in Germany at the time. She has been in power without interruption since 2009. She is also accused of rigging the 2014 and 2018 elections. (dpa).
Published On: 01.08.2024, 14:26 PM | German News Portal: Tagesspiegel | Germen Version Source: Link
