DHAKA: Bangladesh‘s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has received re-election for a fifth time period Sunday, officers mentioned, following a boycott led by an opposition get together she branded a “terrorist organisation”.
Hasina’s ruling Awami League “has received greater than 50 p.c seats,” an Election Fee spokesman informed AFP, with counting ongoing.
She has presided over breakneck financial progress in a rustic as soon as beset by grinding poverty, however her authorities has been accused of rampant human rights abuses and a ruthless opposition crackdown.
Her get together confronted virtually no efficient rivals within the seats it contested, nevertheless it prevented fielding candidates in a couple of constituencies, an obvious effort to keep away from the legislature being branded a one-party establishment.
The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Celebration (BNP), whose ranks have been decimated by mass arrests, referred to as a basic strike and, together with dozens of others, refused to take part in a “sham election”.
Hasina, 76, had referred to as for residents to indicate religion within the democratic course of — however election officers mentioned preliminary reviews prompt a meagre turnout of some 40 p.c.
“The BNP is a terrorist organisation,” she informed reporters after casting her vote. “I’m attempting my greatest to make sure that democracy ought to proceed on this nation.”
Media collating outcomes from polling stations mentioned Hasina had received greater than two-thirds of seats in parliament with practically 90 p.c of outcomes declared.
Of the 264 seats of the full 300 introduced, Hasina’s Awami League had received 204 and her allied Jatiya Celebration 9 extra, in keeping with outcomes collated by Somoy TV, the nation’s largest personal information broadcaster.
Among the many victors was Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh cricket crew captain, who received his seat for Hasina’s get together be a landslide, native officers mentioned.
First-time voter Amit Bose, 21, mentioned he had solid his poll for his “favorite candidate”, however others mentioned that they had not bothered as a result of the result was assured.
“When one get together is taking part and one other will not be, why would I’m going to vote?” mentioned rickshaw-puller Mohammad Saidur, 31.
BNP head Tarique Rahman, talking from Britain the place he lives in exile, informed AFP he feared “faux votes” can be used to spice up voter turnout.
“What unfolded was not an election, however moderately a shame to the democratic aspirations of Bangladesh,” he wrote on social media, alleging he had seen “disturbing photos and movies” backing his claims.
The BNP and different events staged months of protests final 12 months, demanding Hasina step down forward of the vote. Officers within the port metropolis of Chittagong broke up an opposition protest Sunday, firing shotguns and tear gasoline canisters.
However election officers mentioned voting was largely peaceable, with practically 800,000 law enforcement officials and troopers deployed countrywide.
Meenakshi Ganguly, from Human Rights Watch, mentioned Sunday that the federal government had did not reassure opposition supporters that the polls can be truthful, warning that “many worry an extra crackdown”.
Politics on the planet’s eighth-most populous nation was lengthy dominated by the rivalry between Hasina, the daughter of the nation’s founding chief, and two-time premier Khaleda Zia, spouse of a former navy ruler.
Hasina has been the decisive victor since returning to energy in a 2009 landslide, with two subsequent polls accompanied by widespread irregularities and accusations of rigging.
Zia, 78, was convicted of graft in 2018 and is now in ailing well being at a hospital in Dhaka. BNP head Rahman is her son.
Hasina has accused the BNP of arson and sabotage throughout final 12 months’s protest marketing campaign, which was principally peaceable however noticed a number of individuals killed in police confrontations.
The federal government’s safety forces have been dogged by allegations of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances — costs it rejects.
Financial headwinds have left many dissatisfied with Hasina’s authorities, after sharp spikes in meals prices and months of power blackouts in 2022.
Pierre Prakash of the Worldwide Disaster Group mentioned earlier than the vote that Hasina’s authorities was clearly “much less fashionable than it was a couple of years in the past, but Bangladeshis have little actual outlet on the poll field”.
“That may be a probably harmful mixture.”
Hasina’s ruling Awami League “has received greater than 50 p.c seats,” an Election Fee spokesman informed AFP, with counting ongoing.
She has presided over breakneck financial progress in a rustic as soon as beset by grinding poverty, however her authorities has been accused of rampant human rights abuses and a ruthless opposition crackdown.
Her get together confronted virtually no efficient rivals within the seats it contested, nevertheless it prevented fielding candidates in a couple of constituencies, an obvious effort to keep away from the legislature being branded a one-party establishment.
The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Celebration (BNP), whose ranks have been decimated by mass arrests, referred to as a basic strike and, together with dozens of others, refused to take part in a “sham election”.
Hasina, 76, had referred to as for residents to indicate religion within the democratic course of — however election officers mentioned preliminary reviews prompt a meagre turnout of some 40 p.c.
“The BNP is a terrorist organisation,” she informed reporters after casting her vote. “I’m attempting my greatest to make sure that democracy ought to proceed on this nation.”
Media collating outcomes from polling stations mentioned Hasina had received greater than two-thirds of seats in parliament with practically 90 p.c of outcomes declared.
Of the 264 seats of the full 300 introduced, Hasina’s Awami League had received 204 and her allied Jatiya Celebration 9 extra, in keeping with outcomes collated by Somoy TV, the nation’s largest personal information broadcaster.
Among the many victors was Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh cricket crew captain, who received his seat for Hasina’s get together be a landslide, native officers mentioned.
First-time voter Amit Bose, 21, mentioned he had solid his poll for his “favorite candidate”, however others mentioned that they had not bothered as a result of the result was assured.
“When one get together is taking part and one other will not be, why would I’m going to vote?” mentioned rickshaw-puller Mohammad Saidur, 31.
BNP head Tarique Rahman, talking from Britain the place he lives in exile, informed AFP he feared “faux votes” can be used to spice up voter turnout.
“What unfolded was not an election, however moderately a shame to the democratic aspirations of Bangladesh,” he wrote on social media, alleging he had seen “disturbing photos and movies” backing his claims.
The BNP and different events staged months of protests final 12 months, demanding Hasina step down forward of the vote. Officers within the port metropolis of Chittagong broke up an opposition protest Sunday, firing shotguns and tear gasoline canisters.
However election officers mentioned voting was largely peaceable, with practically 800,000 law enforcement officials and troopers deployed countrywide.
Meenakshi Ganguly, from Human Rights Watch, mentioned Sunday that the federal government had did not reassure opposition supporters that the polls can be truthful, warning that “many worry an extra crackdown”.
Politics on the planet’s eighth-most populous nation was lengthy dominated by the rivalry between Hasina, the daughter of the nation’s founding chief, and two-time premier Khaleda Zia, spouse of a former navy ruler.
Hasina has been the decisive victor since returning to energy in a 2009 landslide, with two subsequent polls accompanied by widespread irregularities and accusations of rigging.
Zia, 78, was convicted of graft in 2018 and is now in ailing well being at a hospital in Dhaka. BNP head Rahman is her son.
Hasina has accused the BNP of arson and sabotage throughout final 12 months’s protest marketing campaign, which was principally peaceable however noticed a number of individuals killed in police confrontations.
The federal government’s safety forces have been dogged by allegations of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances — costs it rejects.
Financial headwinds have left many dissatisfied with Hasina’s authorities, after sharp spikes in meals prices and months of power blackouts in 2022.
Pierre Prakash of the Worldwide Disaster Group mentioned earlier than the vote that Hasina’s authorities was clearly “much less fashionable than it was a couple of years in the past, but Bangladeshis have little actual outlet on the poll field”.
“That may be a probably harmful mixture.”
