For the fourth time, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasinahas won some parliamentary elections. As announced by the national electoral commission this Sunday, Hasina’s party, the Awami League and their allies, have obtained at least 60% of the seats in Parliament, after announcing the results of 225 of the 300 seats up for grabs, as reported by Somoy TV, the country’s main private television network. The elections have been marked by the boycott of the opposition, the Bangladesh Nationalist Partyalso known by its acronym in English, BNP, which did not present candidates, and the doubts surrounding the legitimacy of the results.
In power since 2009, no one inside or outside the country questioned the victory of this woman who has ruled the country’s destinies. with iron fist During the last years. “What is scheduled for January 7, 2024 in Bangladesh cannot be called an election under any criteria,” he criticized. Ali Riaz, an American political scientist of Bangladeshi origin, writer and professor at the University of Illinois. Although Hasina, 76, is credited with being the architect of the meteoric economic growth that has experienced The eighth most populous country in the world, with 170 million inhabitants, once devastated by extreme poverty, its Government is accused of serious violations of human rights.
wave of arrests
Hasina, 76, called on voters to go to the polls to show your confidence in it political process. The BNP, in addition to boycotting the call, denounced with all its might that it was “a false election.” “We are getting excellent responses from the people. Despite the oppression and repression of the Government, we have been able to reach many people. They are also frustrated with the behavior of the Government,” the BNP spokesperson explained to the agency last Friday. Ruhul Kabir Rizv.
These are bad times for the main opposition force. Its leadership is headless, since its leader and former prime minister, Khaleda Ziahas been prohibited from participating in politics since his release from prison on parole in March 2020. His eldest son and interim president of the party, Tarique Rahman, has been exiled in London since 2008, after being convicted in multiple court cases. The same opinion about the elections was expressed by other opposition parties, decimated in recent months by a massive wave of arrests.
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Some 1,900 candidates from 29 parties They competed for 300 seats in Parliament, but in reality most of them were nominated by the ruling Awami League or received its blessings. On Sunday morning, Hasina assured reporters that the BNP was a “terrorist organization”, after voting in the capital, Dhaka. The statement came after Hasina’s opponents called for a general strike for the weekend and urged the population not to vote.
The opponents confirmed that the irregularities of previous elections. The BNP has reported the arrest of more than 24,000 of its leaders and activists by the police since last October 28, when a large demonstration against the Government was thwarted by the security forces. Since then, the BNP has organized general strikes and locksand has urged people to refrain from Paying taxes and participate in the vote. Both parties have led Bangladesh since 1991, except for one brief government practically military between 2007 and 2008.