Hasina secures record fourth straight term amid boycott by Bangladesh Opposition

Dhaka, January 7

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday secured a record fourth straight term as her Awami League party won two-thirds of the seats in the elections marred by sporadic violence and a boycott by the main opposition BNP and its allies.

Hasina’s party won 200 seats in the 300-seat parliament while counting was still underway after the end of the day-long voting on Sunday.

“We can call Awami League winner with the already available results but the final announcement will be made after the end of the counting of votes in the rest of the constituencies,” an Election Commission spokesman said.

Hasina won the Gopalganj-3 seat for the eighth time since 1986. She bagged 2,49,965 votes while her nearest rival M Nizam Uddin Lashkar from the Bangladesh Supreme Party secured just 469 votes.

The 76-year-old leader, who has been ruling the strategically located South Asian nation since 2009, secured a record fourth consecutive term and fifth overall term in the one-sided election, which witnessed a low turnout.

Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader claimed that the people had rejected the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami’s boycott of the election by casting their ballots.

“I sincerely thank those who braved the fear of vandalism, arson, and terrorism to participate in the 12th national parliamentary elections,” Quader said.

Jatiya Party chairman GM Quader won the Rangpur-3 seat in the 12th national parliamentary election.

According to the initial estimates, the voter turnout was around 40 per cent but the figure could change after the final count, Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal earlier said.

The 2018 general election recorded an overall turnout of more than 80 per cent.

Despite the largely peaceful voting, officials and the mainstream media reported at least 18 arson attacks across the country since late Friday, with 10 of them targeting polling places.

Former premier Khaleda Zia-led BNP leaders said the party plans to intensify its anti-government movement through a peaceful public engagement programme from Tuesday as it dubbed the polls as “fake”. — PTI

India a trusted friend, says PM

In response to a question, Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina said India was a “trusted friend” of Bangladesh. “We are very lucky…India is our trusted friend. During our liberation war, they supported us. So, we have our best wishes for the people of India,’’ she said.