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DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has swept to energy for a fourth consecutive time period in Bangladesh, following an election on Sunday that was boycotted by opposition events and roiled by violent protests and worldwide scrutiny.
Her Awami League occasion gained 224 seats out of 299, in accordance with native media, cementing a majority in Parliament and increasing her 15-year-long rule that has already made Hasina some of the defining and divisive leaders within the nation’s historical past.
Official outcomes from the Election Fee have been anticipated later Monday.
Hasina’s victory, which was extensively seen as inevitable, got here amid low voter turnout at 40% in a severely fractured local weather that noticed opposition members jailed forward of the polls. The clampdown on political foes and stifling of dissent, analysts say, places Bangladesh’s democracy in a fragile place, dangers triggering political turmoil and will take a look at a few of its diplomatic ties.
Campaigning was rife with violence and the primary opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Get together and its allies boycotted the election saying that Hasina’s authorities couldn’t oversee free and honest polls.
“This isn’t a narrative of a thumping, resounding response from the folks. There’s a query mark within the public’s thoughts about this election, so the outcome that has come will face this taint,” stated Avinash Paliwal, who makes a speciality of South Asia relations at London’s SOAS College.
It has additionally spotlighted a hard electoral document, with the most recent polls being the third within the final 15 years to be dogged by credibility issues. The earlier two votes have been extensively seen as flawed with allegations of vote-rigging, which authorities denied, and one other opposition boycott. All three elections have been held underneath Hasina’s rule.
The principle opposition occasion has rejected the most recent outcomes as a one-sided election.
That is probably “to ratchet up relatively than rein in political tensions” and fan additional polarization and distrust as a substitute of reconciliation, stated Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute on the Wilson Heart.
The federal government has persistently defended the polls as open and inclusive, however critics have identified that many smaller opposition teams and impartial candidates belonged to the ruling occasion, which left voters with few choices.
Whereas Hasina is commonly credited with presiding over Bangladesh’s spectacular progress lately, consultants say its financial system is now sputtering. The nation’s overseas trade reserves have dwindled to lower than three months value of imports, the value of groceries has surged and a wave of labor protests from the nation’s prized garment trade has highlighted dissatisfaction with the federal government.
Specialists say financial discontent is already mounting and widespread in Bangladesh, which implies Hasina’s dealing with of the financial system can be key going ahead, particularly to regain legitimacy amongst disenchanted voters who skipped the polls.
The political tumult surrounding the election additionally dangers straining Bangladesh’s ties with the U.S., the most important purchaser of its garment exports. Relations between the 2 sides have been tense for months, particularly after Washington vowed to impose visa restrictions on anybody disrupting the electoral course of in a bid to make sure that the federal government held a professional election. The transfer irked Hasina, who accused the U.S. of attempting to plot her ouster.
Pierre Prakash, Asia director on the Worldwide Disaster Group, a suppose tank that researches international battle, stated the U.S. made Bangladesh a showcase of the Biden administration’s values-based overseas coverage, which emphasizes human rights and democratic freedoms.
Dhaka is a crucial commerce and strategic companion for Washington in Asia, the place it’s attempting to counter Chinese language affect, however the Biden administration has nonetheless been vocal about its issues surrounding the election.
“We’ll must see how the U.S. behaves. There could possibly be sanctions on the horizon, however we don’t know for certain,” Prakash stated, including that these might goal people or apply extra broadly to a sector, which might extra adversely pinch residents.
Bangladesh’s regional neighbors are more likely to welcome Hasina’s reelection. Her powerful stance on terror, non-aligned overseas coverage and efforts to assist Rohingya refugees — “all of this has made her authorities, warts and all, absolutely acceptable to a lot of the world,” Kugelman stated.
Hasina has additionally gained help from Russia, which is constructing a nuclear plant within the nation, and maintained ties with the European Union, a serious commerce companion that analysts say can be watching developments intently.
Her largest backer stays India, which has invested in a number of infrastructure tasks because it jostles for affect in opposition to rival China within the area.
Whereas that’s unlikely to vary within the brief run, Paliwal at SOAS stated there’s rising anti-India sentiment amid perceptions that New Delhi’s help has enabled Hasina’s controversial rise and authoritarian flip.
“This narrative is taking root, and New Delhi can be watching as a result of it may possibly’t write off the political issues which can be rising throughout the nation,” he stated, including that the low voter turnout is a serious blow to the Awami League. “This may reshape the calculus of Hasina’s worldwide allies and adversaries alike within the coming weeks.”
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AP journalist Julhas Alam contributed reporting.
Krutika Pathi, The Related Press
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