As Bangladesh went to polls on 7 January 2024 amidst violence and boycott call from the prime opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), it was well predicted that the ruling Awami League (AL) led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would win for the fourth consecutive term to lead the poverty stricken South Asian nation for another five years.

Consequently, the 12th general election gave an absolute majority to the incumbent AL with 222 seats in Jatiya Sansad, the highest legislative body of the populous country strategically located between India and Myanmar. The parliamentary election to 350-member Jatiya Sansad (where 50 women members are elected indirectly) reflecting a poor voters’ turnout (less than 42% of 120 million registered electorates exercised their franchise) witnessed the electoral victory of 62 independent candidates (many even defeated AL nominees), a record since its birth as a nation in 1971. A compromised opposition Jatiya Party won only 11 seats and three smaller parties emerged winning one constituency each (where polling took place in 298 constituencies).

The polling began at 8 am on 7 January 2014 and continued uninterrupted till 4 pm under high security arrangements as the country often reports widespread poll-related violence. Over 750,000 police and paramilitary forces were deployed on the ground, where Bangladesh Army, Navy, and Air Force personnel were on duty to ensure security during the single day polling in 261,912 booths under 42,024 voting centres across the country.

To motivate the electorate, even PM Hasina cast her vote as the first individual in Dhaka City College polling station. She was accompanied by her sister Sheikh Rehana and daughter Saima Wazed. More than 200 foreign observers representing over 30 countries and global organisations visited the country to monitor the electoral process. Three senior members of the Election Commission of India also joined the group. Over 20,000 Bangladeshi observers representing 84 organizations were also engaged in the process. Bangladesh chief election commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal assured of a free, fair and neutral polling.

Sporadic incidents of violence and rigging of polls were reported, as BNP leaders called for a 48-hour Hartal (general strike) beginning the previous day to polls. Alleging that elections under Hasina’s government would never be free and fair, the BNP and its political allies stick to their demand to conduct the polls under a caretaker neutral government in Dhaka, which Hasina strongly denied. Jamaat-e-Islami, a radical political party of Bangladesh, even held processions in the capital city on the polling day supporting the BNP’s boycott call.

A mass rally on 28 October by the BNP and its friendly parties turned violent, where at least four people were killed and nearly 300 vehicles torched on the streets of Dhaka. The government started a massive........

© Eurasia Review