Nearly 12.7 million Bangladeshi citizens are eligible to vote today in the high-profile 13th parliamentary election that is expected to mark the country’s transition in 2024 after the student-led uprising that ended Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule.
Voting will take place today in 299 parliamentary seats in a two-way battle between the mainstream Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and an alliance of student leaders and Islamist groups led by Jamat-e-Islami.
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Voting, which begins at 7:30 a.m. amid tight security, will test whether one of the first “Gen-Z” political movements can translate into electoral success, or whether voters will hand power back to the establishment. The BNP, which ruled Bangladesh before Hasina, is widely expected to win the most seats, although it is unclear whether it can secure an outright majority.
“The BNP’s status as one of the two dynastic forces that defined Bangladesh’s troubled post-independence politics underscores how shaky the drive for reform can prove,” Joseph Parkes, senior analyst at risk intelligence firm Verisk Maplecroft, told Bloomberg.
Awami League, of that Sheikh Hasina is president, is currently suspended and barred from standing for election.
The new government will inherit an economy besieged by persistently high inflation and global trade turmoil that threatens the garment industry, which accounts for more than 80% of exports. She will also face growing law and order risks that could derail her agenda, Bloomberg reported.
BNP vs Jamat
Voting will close at 4.30pm and results are expected on Friday.
Voting will take place in 42,766 polling stations. While the BNP is widely seen as the frontrunner, it faces stiff competition from an alliance between them Jamaat-e-Islami — the country’s largest Islamist party — and the student-led National Civic Party. In total, 51 political parties and about 2,000 candidates are competing.
The winner will succeed the interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.
Tracking New Delhi
New Delhi is watching the election closely not only as a neighbor but also because of the deteriorating relations between the two nations in the last few months.
Hasa’s expulsion in August 2024 — and expulsion Awami League from the current election — but is expected to affect India-Bangladesh relations, which were considered cordial during Hasina’s 15-year tenure. Remember Hasina is in exile in New Delhi.
The likely rise of the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami, historically more critical of India, brings uncertainty to the bilateral relationship.
Relations between Dhaka and New Delhi soured soon after the ouster of the Hasina-led Awami League regime on 5 August 2024 and subsequent violence against minorities, especially the Hindu community.
In recent weeks, India has restricted tourist visas for Bangladeshis and has also withdrawn the families of Indian diplomats from Bangladesh, citing security concerns ahead of national elections.
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New Delhi fears that Hasina’s ouster has created space for groups hostile to India amid rising anti-India rhetoric and violence in Bangladesh, according to experts on South Asian politics.
One of the key factors in post-Hasin era Rising political violence, attacks on Hindu minorities and the collapse of law and order on the streets weigh heavily on voters, according to the AP.
Attacks on minorities – including Bangladesh’s 13 million Hindu population – have heightened tensions, Dr. Chietig Bajpayeewrote recently Senior Research Fellow for the South Asia, Asia and Pacific Program at Chatham House.
Increased security measures
The Election Commission has adopted elaborate security measures and deployed nearly one million security personnel – the largest in the country’s election history.
Provisional government headed by Senior Advisor Muhammad Yunus deployed nearly 1 million police, including about 100,000 from the military, to ensure a peaceful vote.
“You should all exercise your respective voting rights consciously…,” Yunus said in a statement on Wednesday.
Vowing to quickly hand over power to the elected government, Yunus called on political parties, candidates and other concerned parties to maintain restraint, tolerance and democratic behavior on election day. “In this national election, the countrymen will elect representatives of the people who are competent, responsible and respect the aspirations of the people,” he said.
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He mentioned that free, fair, impartial and acceptable elections are the foundation of a democratic state and said that the current caretaker government is fully committed to achieving this goal eventually.
Hasina fled Bangladesh in August 2024 after a wave of student protests against her government turned violent and a crackdown by security forces left up to 1,400 dead. United Nations. A tribunal in Bangladesh last November sentenced Hasina to death in absentia for crimes against humanity.
In these national elections, compatriots will elect representatives of the people who are competent, responsible and respectful of the aspirations of the people.
The 13th parliamentary elections are held simultaneously with a referendum on a comprehensive 84-point reform package.