Sheikh Hasina has secured her fifth time period as Bangladeshi prime minister in an election whose end result was determined the second its schedule was introduced in early November when the principle opposition boycotted the ballot.
The shock was who got here second.
As an alternative of any political social gathering, impartial candidates secured a complete of 63 seats, the second highest after Hasina’s Awami League (AL), which gained 222, creating an issue of discovering a parliamentary opposition.
The present opposition, the Jatiya Social gathering, managed to safe simply 11 of the 300 parliamentary seats, in keeping with the Elections Fee.
Nearly all of the profitable impartial contenders have been individuals who had been rejected by the AL however have been requested by the social gathering management to face as “dummy candidates” to offer the election a aggressive veneer in entrance of the world.
“This is a bizarre outcome of a bizarre election,” Shahidul Alam, a famend Bangladeshi rights activist and photographer, advised Al Jazeera. “Dummy candidates in a dummy election will now lead to a dummy parliament.”
Shunned by the Bangladesh Nationalist Social gathering (BNP) – the AL’s most important political opponent – which needed the balloting held underneath a impartial entity as an alternative of Hasina’s administration, Sunday’s “one-sided election” was only a “mere formality” to place Hasina again in energy once more, analysts say.
The one suspense, they added, was voter turnout, after Western governments put strain on Hasina’s authorities to make sure a free, honest and participatory ballot.
After polling closed at 4pm (10:00 GMT on Sunday), the Election Fee (EC) stated turnout was 40 p.c.
However many have been uncertain it was even that prime.
“I don’t know about the rest of the country but I think I have not seen such an empty Dhaka in years,” Abdullah Yusuf, an engineer within the Dhanmondi space of the capital, advised Al Jazeera.
“It felt like the initial COVID days. I crossed two polling centres midday and didn’t see many people besides Awami League activists who were wearing badges. EC’s claim of 40 percent is quite absurd.”
‘Ridiculous’
Some analysts, in the meantime, pointed to confusion on the EC announcement.
“It’s hard to believe the turnout was 40 percent, especially given the fact that the chief election commissioner himself uttered 28 percent first while briefing the media and then changed it to 40 percent all of a sudden,” stated Sakhawat Hossain, a former election commissioner.
The turnout determine, which was proven on the dashboard on the EC headquarters hours after the briefing, was 28 p.c, and a photograph of it was broadly circulated within the nation’s social media and obtained criticism. Al Jazeera checked and verified that determine.
EC earlier declared at an hour earlier than the ballot closing that the turnout was about 27 p.c. Al Jazeera visited a minimum of 10 polling stations throughout the capital Dhaka within the final hour and didn’t see any voters.
Sharmin Murshid, the pinnacle of the reputed election observer organisation Brotee, advised Al Jazeera {that a} soar from 27 to 40 in a span of an hour or so was “ridiculous” and had “tainted the EC reputation severely”.
“It was a sure way to further lose the confidence of the people and credibility which it did not have to start with,” she stated. “This was not an election, rather it was an exercise in casting votes by one party for one party,” she added.
BNP leaders, in the meantime, termed even 28 p.c very excessive, saying that a lot of the polling cubicles throughout the nation had been empty all through the day. The opposition social gathering earlier declared a 48-hour “hartal”, equal to a complete strike, from Saturday morning, which it believed additionally diminished turnout.
“In most pictures and footage shared in media and social platforms, you would find photos of dogs standing, lying down and basking in the sun along with police and a few Awami League activists,” stated Abdul Moyeen Khan, a senior BNP chief, whereas briefing journalists after the election, “But no voters.”
Khan stated folks had heeded their name to boycott ballots and present a “red card” to the election.
“Even Awami League supporters didn’t bother to go to booths to cast their votes because they knew their candidates would win anyway,” he added.
Considerations on legitimacy
AL leaders, nonetheless, stated the BNP’s plan to foil the election by “hartal” and “arson attacks” had not paid off as a result of folks did prove to vote.
“This is a victory for our democracy,” Obaidul Quader advised the media after discovering a transparent lead in ballot outcomes, “People give BNP’s terrorism befitting reply through balloting.”
Quader additionally stated most individuals voted for his or her most popular candidates with none intimidation or interference in voting. “This was one of the most peaceful elections of the country,” he stated.
Whereas the final two nationwide elections have been tainted with dozens of deaths and extreme violence, Sunday’s ballot noticed just one loss of life and only a few clashes, making it one of the vital peaceable polls within the South Asian nation’s historical past.
“People of your country should be proud of holding such a peaceful election,” Hisham Kuhail, the CEO of the Central Election Fee of Palestine, certainly one of a number of overseas observers of the ballot, advised a media briefing afterwards.
Kuhail, nonetheless, averted questions on voter turnout and stated he was assessing solely the technicalities of the voting course of – whether or not voters have been allowed entry and whether or not voting came about systematically.
“I cannot comment on the political scenario here. For that I need to stay at least a month,” he added.
Russian observer Andrei Shutov additionally stated the voting course of was systematic and peaceable. “This election is legitimate,” he added.
AKM Wahiduzzaman, the knowledge and expertise affairs secretary of the BNP, stated there was no query it was peaceable as a result of “there were no voters”.
“But it is obviously not legitimate,” he stated.
The Awami League’s victory, he added, was “illegal and illegitimate” as a result of folks didn’t “legitimise them through votes”.