{"id":45567,"date":"2024-01-09T02:17:05","date_gmt":"2024-01-09T02:17:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/sham-election-in-bangladesh-keeps-sheikh-hasina-in-power\/"},"modified":"2024-01-09T02:17:05","modified_gmt":"2024-01-09T02:17:05","slug":"sham-election-in-bangladesh-keeps-sheikh-hasina-in-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/sham-election-in-bangladesh-keeps-sheikh-hasina-in-power\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Sham\u2019 election in Bangladesh keeps Sheikh Hasina in power"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\n<p>DHAKA: Bangladesh\u2019s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has won re-election for a fifth time, following an opposition boycott, with her party taking at least half of seats and counting ongoing, an election official said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe ruling Awami League party has won more than 50 per cent seats,\u201d an Election Commission spokesman said.<\/p>\n<p>However, election officials were still cou\u00adnting votes on Sunday when the official declared her victor amid a boycott of opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party that she branded a \u201cterrorist organisation\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Ms Hasina\u2019s government has been accused of rampant human rights abuses and a ruthless opposition crackdown. Her party faced almost no effective rivals in the seats it contested, but it avoided fielding candidates in a few constituencies, an apparent effort to avoid the legislature being branded a one-party institution.<\/p>\n<p>The opposition BNP, whose ranks have been decimated by mass arrests, called a general strike and urged the public not to participate in what it called a \u201csham\u201d election.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"blockquote-level-1\">\n<p>PM calls opposition BNP a \u2018terrorist organisation\u2019 as turnout remains low<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>But Ms Hasina, 76, called for citizens to show faith in the democratic process. \u201cThe BNP is a terrorist organisation,\u201d she told reporters after casting her vote. \u201cI am trying my best to ensure that dem\u00adocracy should continue in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2018Why would I go to vote?\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Results are expected as early as Monday (today) morning, with television channels broadcasting early counts from several polling stations putting ruling party candidates ahead.<\/p>\n<p>Chief Election Commissioner Habibul Awal told reporters the turnout, based on preliminary figures, was around 40 per cent.<\/p>\n<p>There were widespread reports of carrot-and-stick inducements to encourage turnout aimed at bolstering the poll\u2019s legitimacy.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media  sm:w-1\/2  w-full  media--right  media--embed  media--uneven\">\n<p>    <iframe class=\"nk-iframe\" onload=\"setInterval(()=&gt;{try{this.style.height=this.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight+'px';}catch{}}, 100)\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"height:400px;position:relative\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/card\/1803345\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>BNP head Tarique Rahman, speaking from Britain where he lives in exile, said he worried about ballot stuffing. \u201cI fear that the election commission may inc\u00adrease vot\u00ader turnout by using fake votes,\u201d he told <em>AFP<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Many said they had not voted because the outcome was assured. \u201cWhen one party is participating and another is not, why would I go to vote?\u201d said Mohammad Saidur, 31, who pulls a rickshaw.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe all know who\u2019s going to win,\u201d said Farhana Manik, 27, a student.<\/p>\n<p>Some voters said earlier they had been threatened with the confiscation of government benefit cards needed to access welfare payments if they refused to cast ballots for the ruling Awami League.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey said since the government feeds us, we have to vote for them,\u201d Lal Mia, 64, told <em>AFP<\/em> in the central district of Faridpur.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Fear of \u2018further crackdown\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The BNP and other parties staged months of protests last year, demanding Ms Hasina step down ahead of the vote.<\/p>\n<p>Officers in the port city of Chittagong broke up an opposition protest Sunday, firing shotguns and tear gas canisters, but election officials said voting was largely peaceful, with nearly 800,000 police officers and soldiers deployed countrywide.<\/p>\n<p>Meenakshi Ganguly, from Human Rights Watch, said Sunday that the government had failed to reassure opposition supporters that the polls would be fair, warning that \u201cmany fear a further crackdown\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Politics in the world\u2019s eighth-most populous country was long dominated by the rivalry between Ms Hasina, the daughter of the country\u2019s founding leader, and two-time premier Khaleda Zia, wife of a former military ruler.<\/p>\n<p>Ms Hasina has been the decisive victor since returning to power in a 2009 landslide, with two subsequent polls accompanied by widespread irregularities and accusations of rigging.<\/p>\n<p>Ms Zia, 78, was convicted of graft in 2018 and is now in ailing health at a hospital in Dhaka, with her son Tarique Rahman helming the BNP in her stead from London.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Rahman told <em>AFP<\/em> that his party, along with dozens of others, had refused to participate in a \u201csham election\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Ms Hasina has accused the BNP of arson and sabotage during last year\u2019s protest campaign, which was mostly peaceful but saw several people killed in police confrontations.<\/p>\n<p>The government\u2019s security forces have been dogged by allegations of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances \u2014 charges it rejects.<\/p>\n<p>The United States, the biggest export market for the South Asian nation of 170 million, has imposed sanctions on an elite police unit and its top commanders.<\/p>\n<p>Economic headwinds have left many dissatisfied with Ms Hasina\u2019s government, after sharp spikes in food costs and months of chronic blackouts in 2022.<\/p>\n<p><em>Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2024<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DHAKA: Bangladesh\u2019s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has won re-election for a fifth time, following an opposition boycott, with her party taking at least half of seats and counting ongoing, an election official said. \u201cThe ruling Awami League party has won more than 50 per cent seats,\u201d an Election Commission spokesman said. However, election officials were [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.dawn.com\/large\/2024\/01\/659b1f3b0d916.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[192],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-islamabad-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}