By: Navalsang Parmar (Dhaka):
In Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina led Awami League secured a majority in the 12th national election amid main opposition boycott. With the resounding victory, Awami League President and the incumbent prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, will form the government for the fourth straight term.
According to media reports, Awami League won two-third majority in the parliament and fourth term in a row by winning 223 out of 299 seats. The main opposition in the outgoing parliament, Jatiya Party, got only 11 seats while independents won 62 seats. The remaining three seats were won by the other parties. However, official statements regarding election results are yet to come from the Election Commission of Bangladesh.
There were stray incidents of violence before and during the election, otherwise the elections happened peacefully. However, the most noteworthy thing about this election was the absence of communal violence across the country during the election.
The voter turnout in this election was very low compared to the previous election in 2018 as main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its allies had boycotted the election. According to Election Commission data voter turnout was 40 per cent. The BNP and its allies had called a 48 hours strike from Saturday morning to Monday morning asking voters to refrain from voting.
Sheikh Hasina won Gopalganj-3 constituency with a huge margin from her nearest rival. She has instructed her partymen not to bring out any victory procession after the announcement of election results.