The Bangladesh Election Commission announced on Monday that the ruling Awami League party won a large majority in last Sunday's general election, guaranteeing a fourth consecutive term in office for current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Hasina's party won 223 of the 299 parliamentary seats up for grabs, Election Commission Chairman Habibul Awal said at a news conference in the Bangladesh capital.
Yesterday's elections were marked by a low voter turnout of 40% compared to 80.2% in the 2018 elections and by the boycott of the opposition parties, which this Monday demanded the resignation of the Prime Minister and the holding of new elections under a caretaker government.
Around 1,900 candidates from 28 political parties, most of them affiliated with or supported by the Awami League, contested for 299 of the 300 parliamentary seats up for grabs after authorities suspended voting in a constituency due to the death of a candidate.
At least one person died on election day amid a heavy deployment of security forces, allowing the country's authorities to confirm it was a peaceful election, compared to the 19 deaths in 2018 in which they were involved. The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies boycotted the elections because Hasina refused to dissolve her government and set up an interim government to oversee the polls.
Not only did the BNP fail to field candidates, it also called for a 48-hour general strike, which began yesterday, to stop voters from going to the polls. The opposition group has denounced a state repression campaign months before the election that saw more than 24,000 of its leaders and supporters arrested by security forces.
