Key Bangladesh party files case on alleged election rigging

DHAKA: Bangladesh’s leading political party filed a case Sunday against former election commissioners it accuses of rigging past polls to keep now-ousted autocrat Sheikh Hasina in power.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) said it had lodged a complaint against 19 people including Hasina, who fled in August following weeks of protest against her rule.

“We have brought allegations of violating the constitution, breaching the electoral code of conduct, assisting a political party to win despite holding government positions, unleashing a reign of terror, and falsely declaring candidates as winners despite their failure to secure enough votes,” Salauddin Khan, a senior BNP leader, told reporters.

The BNP claimed Hasina’s election wins in 2014, 2018 and 2024 were achieved through repressive actions against opposition parties.Among those named in its case lodged at a Dhaka police station are three former top election commissioners -- Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad, KM Nurul Huda, and Kazi Habibul Awal.

Other officials accused by the BNP include more election commissioners, commission secretaries, senior police and intelligence officials, and Hasina’s interior minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal. All are no longer in office.

The party alleged that despite repeated requests to the election commission, no steps were taken over the years to ensure a level playing field.Instead, some opposition candidates were killed, subjected to enforced disappearances, or faced various forms of persecution.

According to the BNP, Hasina maintained her grip on power through her interior minister and senior police and intelligence officers, while the election commission turned a blind eye and declared her party’s candidates the winners.

Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus this month ordered the relevant government bodies to bring those allegedly responsible for irregularities at the election commission to justice.