Bangladesh is heading to the polls for the primary time since student-led protests dramatically ousted its longtime chief, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, amid a brutal crackdown on demonstrators, and compelled her to flee the country in 2024.
Greater than 127 million persons are eligible to vote within the February 12 elections, that are being known as the largest democratic train of the 12 months. Nevertheless, there are issues about the opportunity of unrest. About 15 million Bangladeshi expatriates, whose remittances are extremely important for the economic system, can even be capable to vote by post for the primary time.
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Elections within the South Asian nation, which is at the moment led by the caretaker authorities of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, have traditionally been marked by bitter political campaigns, boycotts and allegations of rigging.
Historically, the nation’s politics has been dominated by Hasina’s former ruling Awami League, and the previous most important opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Occasion (BNP). The Awami League, nonetheless, has been banned as its chief, Hasina, and different celebration officers face prison trials over their brutal crackdown on protests in 2024.
Hasina was tried and issued a dying sentence in absentia for ordering the killing of protesters. However India, the place she has taken refuge, has not agreed to her extradition.
Bangladesh operates a single-house parliamentary system, and a main minister sometimes appoints a ceremonial president. A complete of 1,981 candidates are vying for 350 seats within the Jatiya Sangsad nationwide meeting. The BNP and the Jamaat-e-Islami are the 2 most important contenders, every main multi-party coalitions.
Elections are often held each 5 years. There have been 11 democratically elected governments since Bangladesh’s formation in 1971, punctuated at intervals by intervals of army rule.
Right here’s a timeline of the nation’s previous elections:
1970 – Pakistan elections, pre-independence
When Bangladesh was nonetheless a part of Pakistan, normal elections have been held within the former East and West Pakistan in December 1970. The 2 areas have been geographically separated by India, and the bulk Bengali inhabitants in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) had been pushing for independence.
Professional-independence politician Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s Awami League gained near all 162 seats allotted to East Pakistan within the frequent Pakistani parliament. The Awami League additionally successfully gained a majority within the then-313-seat Nationwide Meeting of Pakistan — which ought to have allowed it to type the nationwide authorities of a united Pakistan, with Rahman as prime minister.
Nevertheless, the Pakistani army authorities refused to permit him to change into PM. Rahman delivered a fiery speech through which he declared that Bangladesh could be unbiased of Pakistan by March 1971.
The Pakistan military violently attacked activists, triggering the Bangladeshi Liberation Warfare from March to December 1971, throughout which Bengalis in East Pakistan have been ethnically cleansed. An estimated three million folks have been killed and 200,000 girls sexually assaulted, in response to the United Nations.
Rahman — higher often known as Mujib in Bangladesh — was imprisoned originally of the battle, however a provisional authorities was shaped in his absence in exile. It operated from close by Kolkata in India beneath appearing President Syed Nazrul Islam till Rahman’s launch in January 1972 following independence. Rahman then served as prime minister.
1973 – First post-independence election
After Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan in December 1971, a provisional authorities held the nation’s first normal election in March 1973. It was controversial, nonetheless, and has since been seen as an indicator of Mujib’s subsequent autocratic insurance policies. Whereas 14 political events contested the election, the Awami League gained an awesome 73 % of the vote and snatched 293 of the contested 300 seats.
Whereas the celebration was the favorite to dominate the elections in any case, Mujib nonetheless was alleged to have taken further measures to consolidate energy, together with rigging polls by way of ballot-stuffing and intimidating and arresting opposition leaders.
Opposition events Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal and the Jatiya League gained just one seat every.
In 1974, Mujib banned all opposition events, ushering in a one-party state. He additionally restricted journalists’ entry to parliament.
1975 to 1986 – an period of chaotic army
Mujib and most of his household have been assassinated in August 1975 throughout a bloody coup organised by mid-level officers, led by Colonel Sayed Farooq-ur-Rahman. Finance Minister Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad instantly declared himself president with the military’s backing.
Ahmad undid the one-party coverage, permitting opposition events to type, however was toppled shortly after in a counter-coup in November 1975 led by Common Khaled Mosharraf, an ally of Rahman. Chief Justice Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem then dominated as president with the army’s assist till he resigned on well being grounds in April 1977.
Then-army chief Ziaur Rahman took over as president. Zia, as he was popularly recognized, had additionally been a significant determine through the liberation battle – he broadcast the Bangladesh Declaration of Independence on the time.
As chief, he’s credited with instituting financial restoration within the struggling nation by liberalising the economic system. He additionally pushed for a nationwide Bangladeshi identification, quite than a Bengali one, which, till then, had excluded minority ethnic teams. Most notably, he ushered in multi-party elections once more.
1979 multi-party elections
In February 1979, Ziaur’s authorities organised the primary polls since 1973, through which his newly shaped Bangladesh Nationwide Occasion (BNP) participated and gained 207 out of 300 parliamentary seats. The Awami League, now the most important opposition, gained 39 seats however claimed the elections have been rigged.
1986 and 1988 elections discredited
After Ziaur’s assassination in an abortive army coup on Could 30,1981, Vice President Abdus Sattar grew to become appearing president and carried out presidential elections in November of the identical 12 months. BNP once more gained 65 % of the vote. However inside months, military chief Hussain Muhammad Ershad had seized energy in a cold coup in March 1982, imposing martial regulation.
Ershad dominated for the subsequent 4 years. When he held elections in Could 1986, his Jatiya Occasion gained 183 seats, securing a parliamentary majority. Opposition events just like the BNP had boycotted the vote, calling it a sham. Opposition events once more criticised the elections held in March 1988, when the Jatiya Occasion gained 259 seats, as unfair and manipulated. Widespread protests calling for Ershad’s resignation broke out.
1991 ‘free and truthful’ elections
The BNP, led by the late Khaleda Zia – Ziaur’s widow – and the Awami League, led by Sheikh Hasina – the eldest of Rahman’s two surviving daughters – joined forces to guide mass protests in December 1990, which compelled Ershad’s authorities to resign.
A caretaker authorities, led by Supreme Court docket justice Shahabuddin Ahmed, then held new elections on February 27, 1991, which have been broadly thought to be professional.
Khaleda Zia’s BNP gained 140 seats whereas Hasina’s Awami League took 88. The Jatiya Occasion gained 35 seats.
Khaleda Zia grew to become Bangladesh’s first feminine prime minister.
1996 – Hasina’s first win
Tensions between the ruling BNP and Awami League have been boiling over following a parliamentary by-election for the Magura-2 constituency. Though the BNP’s candidate had gained, the Awami League claimed the vote had been rigged, and commenced urgent Khaleda Zia handy energy over to a caretaker authorities to conduct forthcoming elections.
The Awami League and different opposition events then boycotted the February 15, 1996 election, clearing the way in which for the BNP to win practically all seats in parliament. Voter turnout was one of many lowest within the nation ever, at solely 21 %.
Nevertheless, normal strikes throughout Bangladesh compelled the BNP handy energy to a caretaker authorities simply 12 days after the vote. In March, a requirement {that a} impartial caretaker authorities should oversee all future normal elections was written into the structure.
Extra elections have been held on June 12. There was a a lot better turnout of 75 %, and voting was broadly seen as free. Hasina gained her first time period as prime minister, with the Awami League securing 146 parliamentary seats, simply forward of the BNP, which gained 116 seats.
2001 elections – BNP retakes energy
One other caretaker authorities oversaw the subsequent normal election in October 2001. This time, the opposition BNP surged in reputation and gained 193 parliament seats, forward of the ruling Awami League, which secured 62 seats.
The elections have been principally peaceable, though there have been some reviews of violence in the direction of the nation’s minority Hindu inhabitants. Khaleda Zia of the BNP was capable of type a authorities for a second time.
2006 – Election disaster and a failed vote
A dispute erupted between the ruling BNP, opposition Awami League, and different main gamers over who would lead the subsequent caretaker authorities forward of the January 2007 elections.
Riots broke out after the BNP named a retired chief justice with ties to then-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia.
The BNP-appointed president, Iajuddin Ahmed, finally declared himself chief of the caretaker authorities after no consensus was reached.
In December, revelations that fake names had been included on the record of candidates sparked riots. 1000’s of protesters blockaded the transport system and shut down faculties and workplaces. The nation descended right into a political disaster that will final for a number of months.
Ahmed declared a nationwide emergency, permitting the army to intervene. In protest, the Awami League withdrew from the deliberate elections. The elections did not be held.
2008 – Hasina’s return
The delayed election finally passed off on December 29, 2008, with an 80 % turnout – the best the nation had ever seen. It was additionally largely seen as truthful.
The Awami League, led by Hasina, allied with a number of different opposition teams to type the Grand Alliance. The coalition ended up profitable a majority of 230 seats. The BNP took simply 30 seats. A brand new authorities was shaped in January 2009. Hasina returned to energy for the second time.
2014 – Opposition boycotts and crackdowns
Hasina’s Awami League authorities was extremely crucial of the army intervention that had delayed the 2009 election.
Upon her return to energy, she moved to amend the structure to do away with the caretaker authorities requirement. Nevertheless, the BNP boycotted a June 2011 parliamentary session the place lawmakers voted on the modification. The modification to the structure was handed by parliament by a vote of 291 to 1.
Hasina’s authorities additionally started to crack down on opposition leaders. Forward of elections slated for January 5, 2014, opposition BNP chief Khaleda Zia was positioned beneath home arrest, and there have been widespread reviews of violence towards different opposition members. On election day, the BNP and its supporters refused to take part.
Hasina’s Awami League, subsequently, gained the elections once more, securing 234 seats in parliament, in a vote broadly panned — in Bangladesh and internationally — as illegitimate.
2018 – Awami League wins supermajority
The following normal election was held on December 30, 2018, amid main technological upgrades. For the primary time, voters might take part in digital voting.
Nevertheless, the BNP and different opposition events accused the ruling Awami League-Jatiya Occasion coalition of rigging, regardless of the upgrades. There have been once more reviews of violence towards opposition BNP members and the celebration’s supporters, in addition to allegations of vote rigging.
The Awami League authorities had additionally banned the Jamaat-e-Islami, the nation’s largest Islamic celebration and a BNP ally on the time. A number of Jamaat leaders have been executed after convictions by a Hasina-appointed tribunal for alleged battle crimes in 1971.
The federal government additionally shut down mobile internet forward of the vote to cease the unfold of faux information, it claimed. Khaleda Zia of BNP was outright barred from working after she was convicted and handed a 17-year jail time period in a corruption case. The BNP maintained that the trial was politically motivated. Zia was acquitted after Hasina’s ousting.
The Awami League-Jatiya Occasion alliance gained a supermajority – greater than 90 % of parliamentary seats. The elections have been broadly seen as a sham.
2024 elections – the prelude to Hasina’s ousting
The final election to be held beneath Hasina’s administration was on January 7, 2024.
Hasina continued to crack down on opposition politicians and was largely seen to have near-total affect over the electoral fee that had been established in 1972.
The opposition BNP boycotted the elections, and the Jamaat was nonetheless beneath a ban, paving the way in which for Hasina to win her fifth time period in workplace and cement her authorities’s place because the longest-serving administration in Bangladesh’s historical past. Bangladesh had successfully change into a one-party state once more.
In July, mass protests led by college students broke out after the Supreme Court docket restored a job quota system that had prioritised the descendants of the nation’s liberation activists. The 46-year-old regulation had initially been struck down in 2018, following student-led protests. Its reinstatement pushed 1000’s of scholars again onto the streets in what’s now referred to as the July Revolution.
Nevertheless, the protests turned lethal when Hasina’s authorities responded violently. Safety officers massacred demonstrators within the streets, ensuing within the deaths of no less than 1,400 folks.
On August 5, Hasina resigned and fled the nation to India.
On August 8, Muhammad Yunus, a globally recognised economist and 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner, took over because the interim chief.
