(Dhaka) The Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, won Sunday’s legislative elections, boycotted by the main opposition party which denounced a “sham election”, and is therefore heading towards a fifth term.
If Mme Hasina, in power since 2009, is credited with fostering meteoric growth in the world’s eighth most populous country, once plagued by extreme poverty, her government is accused of serious human rights violations and carrying out a ruthless repression against the opposition.
The ruling party of Mme Hasina’s Awami League won about three-quarters of the seats in the unicameral parliament, according to election commission officials.
The total voting results will be officially announced on Monday.
After voting in Dhaka, Sheikh Hasina, 76, called on voters to go to the polls, promising “free and fair” elections.
She also denounced the boycott of the vote by the main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which she described as a “terrorist organization”.
The BNP, for its part, denounced “a sham election”. The vote was also boycotted by other parties, decimated like it in recent months by mass arrests.
PHOTO MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU, ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Bangladesh Election Commission has announced the start of counting, and results are expected Monday morning.
Among the elected officials of the ruling party is Shakib Al Hasan, captain of the national cricket team, the king sport in the country, according to the media.
The Awami League had virtually no opponents in the constituencies it contested. But it had failed to present candidates in a few others, apparently to avoid the unicameral Parliament being seen as the instrument of a single party.
” Shame ”
The head of the national electoral commission, Habibul Awal, estimated participation during the day at around 40%.
Many Bangladeshis interviewed by AFP said they did not vote because the result was a foregone conclusion.
“Why would I go to vote when we have one party participating and the other not? “, declared Mohammad Saidur, a 31-year-old rickshaw driver.
“We all know who will win,” added Farhana Manik, a 27-year-old student.
The leader of the BNP, Tarique Rahman, denounced possible ballot stuffing.
Numerous testimonies reported various incentives, even blackmail, from the authorities to encourage participation.
“What took place is not an election, but rather a shame for the democratic aspirations of Bangladesh,” he said on social networks from London, where he has lived in exile since 2008, adding that he had seen “ disturbing photos and videos” supporting his accusations.
Numerous testimonies reported various incentives, even blackmail, from the authorities to encourage participation.
Some voters say they were threatened with confiscation of their government benefit cards, necessary to obtain social benefits, if they refused to vote for the Awami League.
“They said that since the government feeds us, we should vote for it,” Lal Mia, 64, who is voting in Faridpur district, in the center of the country, told AFP.
Mass arrests
The BNP and other parties protested unsuccessfully for months in late 2023 to demand Ms resignationme Hasina and a neutral interim government to oversee the elections.
Some 25,000 opposition leaders, including all local BNP leaders, were arrested after these demonstrations, during which several people were killed in clashes with the police, according to the party. The government, for its part, reported 11,000 arrests.
Nearly 700,000 police and reservists were deployed to maintain order during the vote, and nearly 100,000 soldiers, according to the electoral commission.
Bangladesh’s security forces have long been accused of excessive use of force, something the government denies.
Since his return to power in 2009, Mr.me Hasina strengthened her control after two elections marred by irregularities and accusations of fraud.
Her economic successes have long supported Sheikh Hasina’s popularity. But difficulties have increased recently, with rising prices and widespread power outages.