Tag: bangladesh national elections

Bangladesh to hold general elections on January 7; PM Hasina poised to win 4th consecutive term

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Bangladesh will go to the polls on January 7. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to win a fourth straight term in the absence of the main Opposition BNP which on January 6 began a 48-hour nationwide strike against the “illegal government” amidst sporadic violence.

A total of 119.6 million registered voters are eligible to vote at Sunday’s polls in more than 42,000 polling stations, according to the country’s Election Commission.

More than 1,500 candidates from 27 political parties are contesting in the election besides 436 independent candidates.

Over 100 foreign observers, including three from India, will monitor the 12th general election, which is being held under tight security.

The election commission said voting will start at 8 a.m. and end at 5 p.m. The results are expected to start flowing from early on January 8.

Prime Minister Hasina’s ruling Awami League is expected to win for a straight fourth time as the main Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of former premier Khaleda Zia, 78, who is under house arrest as a convict of graft charges, boycotted the polls.

Ms. Hasina, 76, in a nationally televised address this week has urged the pro-democratic and law-abiding parties not to fuel ideas that “disrupt” the country’s constitutional process.

Opposition BNP boycotts election

The BNP has called for a 48-hour nationwide general strike which began at 6 a.m. on January 6 and will end at 6 a.m. on January 8.

Dhaka University students hold a rally along a roadside in the capital on January 6, 2024 urging people to boycott Bangladesh’s general elections on the eve of it’s commencement. Bangladesh votes on January 7, in an election guaranteed to give Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina her fifth term in office, after a boycott by opposition parties whose ranks have been decimated by mass arrests.
| Photo Credit:
AFP

The number of vehicles on the street is fewer compared to other days, but despite fear of arson attacks, public vehicles were plying the streets.

The 27 political parties that are contesting the elections include the opposition Jatiya Party (JAPA). The rest are members of the ruling Awami League-led coalition, which experts dub as “satellite parties.”

As part of its vote boycott campaign, BNP has been calling countrywide general strikes. The party has been claiming no election under the incumbent government would be fair and credible.

BNP spokesman Ruhul Kabir Rizvi announced the strike, saying it was aimed to press for their demands for “resignation of the illegal government, establishment of a non-party neutral government and release of all party leaders and activists from prison”.

Ahead of the elections, Ms. Hasina’s government arrested tens of thousands of rival politicians and supporters, a move which rights groups have condemned as an attempt to paralyse the Opposition.

Prime Minister Hasina said the Awami League, whenever it came to power, ensured the economic and social development of the people of the country.

Authorities deployed Army troops across the country two days ago “in aid of civil administration” to maintain peace and order during the voting.

Despite the strict security arrangements, unidentified people carried homemade bomb and arson attacks in empty polling centres in four out of 64 administrative districts, while BNP activists clashed with police in another district, leaving five people wounded on Friday.

At least 14 arson attacks were reported in 16 hours till 9:30 a.m. on January 6, according to Fire Service statistics.

At least four people were killed when a passenger train was torched by arsonists near Dhaka on the night of January 5. The BNP has demanded a UN-supervised investigation into the incident which it described as a “pre-planned” act of sabotage.

Detectives said they arrested eight persons, including Dhaka south city unit BNP joint convener Nabi Ullah Nabi, for their involvement in setting fire to the Benapole Express.

They claimed to have found involvement of the BNP and the activists of the Jubo Dal, the youth wing of the party, in last night’s attack.

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Saturday denounced the arson attack and said the government was playing with fire to make political gains by blaming the Opposition.

Brussels-based think-tank International Crisis Group (ICG) said Bangladesh is at a critical juncture.

“Bangladesh is at a critical juncture. The once vibrant, if imperfect democracy will soon hold a third election without a credible alternative to the incumbent government,” it said in a recent report.

The think tank said while it was now too late to delay the January election, the Awami League and BNP should work after the vote to de-escalate the country’s political tensions, including through concessions by both sides.

Political science professor and analyst Harunur Rashid said he feared Bangladesh might need to wait for an indefinite period to witness a congenial political atmosphere because of the highly conflicting nature between the two major parties.

Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Kader on Friday said there was no perfect democracy anywhere in the world, but BNP’s participation could have made the upcoming elections more competitive.

He said an unprecedented “mass tide” has been created in favour of the party across the country ahead of the elections.

Hoping that the national election would be held in a free, fair, and peaceful manner, he said the election means a festival of democracy to the people of Bangladesh, and this time it is no exception.

He commented on the BNP’s general strike on election day and said it is now an “obsolete tool” in Bangladesh’s politics.

Bangladesh’s political arrangements

Ms. Hasina has been in power since 2009 and won the last election in December 2019, in a poll marred by deadly violence and accusations of poll rigging.

The BNP boycotted the 2014 election but joined the one in 2019, which party leaders later said was a mistake, alleging the voting was marred with widespread rigging and intimidation.

BNP’s boycott announcement this time, however, initially posed a challenge to Ms. Hasina on the legitimacy of the January 7 polls as JAPA also expressed its reluctance to join the fray but agreed to participate as the ruling party decided to spare them 26 seats, withdrawing their candidates.

Awami League also left six seats to its partners in the 14-party ruling alliance while Ms. Hasina encouraged independent and rebel candidates to contest to make the polling participatory while the ruling party was carrying out a campaign for high voter turnouts.

Analysts and watchdogs, however, said the country of 170 million was heading for virtual one-party rule, while many voters said they found no charm in voting this time as the polling was set to reelect the incumbent government. Bangladesh’s economy has also slowed sharply since the Russia-Ukraine war boosted prices of fuel and food imports, forcing Bangladesh to turn to the International Monetary Fund for a bailout of USD 4.7 billion last year.

Many fear that a fourth straight term for Ms. Hasina would worsen the economic situation, deepening their despair.

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Sheikh Hasina | The rebel who became the ruler

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On April 30, 1991, a cyclone hit the coastal Bangladesh with monstrous ferocity. Storm surges drove sea water deep inland. At the end of the nearly seven-hour-long cyclone, at least 140,000 people were left dead. Sheikh Hasina, then the leader of the principal opposition Awami League, reached the affected areas near Chittagong before the Government of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) could muster any response. Prime Minister Khaleda Zia should take moral responsibility for failing to provide timely assistance to the people and resign immediately, Ms. Hasina demanded. The images of Ms. Hasina walking in the devastated landmass of coastal Bangladesh drove her into the centre of a grieving nation. The BNP sensed a growing threat, and violent attacks targeted Ms. Hasina in the following months.

Earlier, on November 10, 1987, the police of military ruler Mohammed Ershad had targeted her, which killed three of her young colleagues from the student wing of the Awami League. Sensing that a deeply unpopular and confused military dictator was failing in governance, Ms. Hasina and Ms. Zia came together in 1987. The two were known to be opposed to each other. Yet, they formed an alliance, asking for genuine democracy. In the winter of 1990, the Hasina-Zia duo mobilised lakhs of people in Dhaka, shaking the foundations of Ershad’s regime. Ershad responded by declaring emergency, but in the face of mounting pressure, he resigned on December 4. In the February 1991 election, the BNP came to power, and Ms. Hasina emerged as the main opposition leader. The cyclone of April that year gave Ms. Hasina the rebirth that she wanted.

Also Read: OPINION | The road ahead for Sheikh Hasina

Long before the 1991 cyclone, the coastal part of the country was devastated in the winter of 1970 by cyclone ‘Bhola’. For days, the government of Yahya Khan, sitting in a distant Islamabad, did not know the scale of the devastation. The apathy of the Yahya Khan government was matched by the brutality of Operation Searchlight that was launched by the Pakistani military to crush the democratic aspirations of the winner of general election — the Awami League, under Sheikh Mujib. The Awami League, which took power after the birth of Bangladesh following the India-Pakistan war of 1971, represented the young and restless youth of East Pakistan.

When Mujib was assassinated on August 15, 1975, Ms. Hasina was in West Germany. She and her sister Rehana survived the massacre that wiped out their entire family, including their five-year-old brother Sheikh Russell. After the killings, Ms. Hasina took refuge in India for six years. This was the formative period of the future Prime Minister. In this phase, Ms. Hasina struck a friendship with Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee and the Gandhis of India.

On May 17, 1981, Ms. Hasina returned to Bangladesh. By then, the Awami League had elected her in absentia as its General Secretary. The battle against the Ershad regime was tough and the battle against the Zia government was no less. Ms. Zia, widow of former military ruler Zia-ur Rahman who founded the BNP, tried to corner Ms. Hasina as attacks continued. But the Zia government could not recover from the blow of the cyclone and the BNP was defeated in the election of 1996, paving the way for the first term of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The rebel became the ruler.

Agreement with India

In 1997, Ms. Hasina concluded the 30-year Ganga Water Sharing Agreement with India that was to last till 2026. She also announced the plan for building the ambitious bridge across the Padma in this tenure. She reached out to the Chakmas in the Chittagong Hill Tract and concluded a peace treaty on December 2, 1997 with the Parbattyo Chattogram Jana Samhati Samiti. Despite striking several right notes, Ms. Hasina lost the 2001 election that was held under a caretaker government, to a four-party alliance led by the BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, Jatiya Party (Manju) and Islamic Oikyo Jote.

The BNP-led government became known subsequently for the alleged support that it provided to the secessionist forces like the ULFA and other groups in India’s Northeast. Rampant corruption and public protests crippled the country.

A new Caretaker Government came in January 2007 with support from the military, which imposed emergency and postponed the elections. During this time, Ms. Hasina was jailed on corruption charges which helped her gain public sympathy. The election held in December 29, 2008 returned her to power. This time, she returned to take advantage of her partnership with India and reached an in-principle agreement on Teesta water sharing and started negotiation and survey for the historic Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) with India.

In February 2013, the trial of Abdul Quader Mollah reignited the painful memories of the genocide committed during March-December 1971 under the supervision of the Pakistani military. The powerful Shahbag movement that started in February 2013 demanded death sentence for Mollah, who had earlier got a life sentence. In December that year, Mollah was hanged. Ms. Hasina returned to power in 2014 in an election that was boycotted by the BNP. Unfazed, Ms. Hasina next year sealed the LBA with India.

Continuing with the Shahbag spirit, her government kept up the heat on the collaborators in the genocide and hanged a number of leaders, including Motiur Rahman Nizami and Mir Quasem Ali of Jamaat-e-Islami in 2016. That year, extremism posed the toughest challenge to Hasina with the Islamic State attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery of Dhaka. She vowed to continue her campaign against terrorists which became synonymous with her rule. A tough fighter who had taken on a military dictator in the 1980s, she had by now become a grandmother and acquired a front rank as one of the longest ruling female leaders in the world.

Election controversy

There has been no indications from the party so far about who might succeed Ms. Hasina. Her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, an entrepreneur, and daughter Saima Wazed, have both hit the headlines. Ms. Saima recently became the South East Asia Regional Director of the World Health Organization, prompting criticism of nepotism. However, for the veteran leader, succession is not yet a priority. The coming election is already in international focus as the BNP has planned to boycott the polls once again. Ms. Hasina has maintained that there will not be the repeat of the past caretaker governments as that provision in the Constitution has been removed. The BNP, however, demands a “neutral government” before polling.

As global pressure mounts on her, Bangladesh is all set to hold the election on January 7. Ms. Hasina has sent emissaries abroad to invite observers and diplomats and promised a fair contest. Despite her assurances, around 14 parties, including the BNP, are boycotting the election. With the completed Padma bridge, and a series of new airports and roadways, Ms. Hasina showcases her achievements while seeking re-election, though there is economic stress and criticism of a widening crackdown on the opposition. It remains to be seen if Ms. Hasina, the former rebel, would be willing to test her popularity in the ring of a truly “free and fair election” and convince the opposition to join the race at the last moment.

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