Hasina likely to win fourth term amid opposition boycott

DHAKA: An opposition boycott looks set to usher prime minister Sheikh Hasina to a fourth straight term in the Bangladesh election this weekend.

The election has been described as a “sham” designed to cement Hasina’s rule by exiled opposition leader Tarique Rahman.

Rahman’s party staged a months-long protest campaign in 2023 demanding the prime minister’s resignation that saw at least 11 people killed and thousands of its supporters arrested.

Speaking to Agence France-Presse, he said it would be inappropriate to have his party participate in a vote with a “predetermined” outcome.

Rights groups warn the country of 170 million is heading for virtual one-party rule, while the United States, which sanctioned Bangladeshi security forces in 2021 over allegations of rights abuses, and other countries have also voiced their concerns about the conduct of this week’s vote.

Hasina, in power since 2009, has repeatedly vowed that the election would be credible, after observers said previous polls won by her party in 2014 and 2018 were marred by irregularities.

“Go to the polling stations and cast votes in the morning to show the world that we know how to hold the election in a free and fair manner,” she told a Saturday campaign rally. On walls in Dhaka, the capital, slogans painted in red and blue exhorted voters to pick “Once again, Sheikh Hasina” and “Vote for the boat”, the symbol of her Awami League party, before campaigning wraps up on Friday. With the ballot outcome all but assured, however, some voters see little reason to turn out.

“My whole family are hardcore Awami League supporters,” said school teacher Shayed Uz Zaman, adding that they planned to make use of Sunday’s voting day holiday to visit their village in Kushtia, a district about 200km from Dhaka.

“But there’s no charm in voting this time. I know she is staying in power.“ Sunday is usually a working day in mainly Muslim Bangladesh. Another Awami League supporter, Minoti Rosario, who runs a grocery shop, said she felt her vote barely mattered as the “ruling party is winning anyway”.

About 120 million registered voters will choose 300 members of parliament in the vote, one of the world’s largest such exercises this year. Women make up almost half of voters, while those casting a ballot for the first time number 15 million.