TRANSCRIPT
Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has won re-election for a fifth term despite a boycott led by the opposing Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
“I am very pleased because this victory is for the people. This is not my victory. To me, this victory belongs to the people.”
Hasina's victory, widely seen as inevitable, came amid low voter turnout at 41.8 per cent in a extremely contentious climate that saw opposition members jailed ahead of the polls.
“The election took place. They (BNP) could not stop it. They tried their best to do it but they didn't. How do you define that? You never mentioned how many people they killed till now. It is not only this year; 2013, 2014, 2015; they did the same thing. More than 3,000 people burnt down. 500 were killed. And still people are suffering in the hospitals. So how do you define that they are a democratic party? They are terrorist party. It is terrorist activities.”
Abdul Moyeen Khan is a standing Committee member for the opposing BNP, an organisation Ms Hasina has branded as "terrorist".
He says the government has conducted a fake election.
“This government is illegitimate. By conducting a fake election, they can never legitimise this government. This is absolutely clear. The people of Bangladesh by not going to vote in yesterday's election, they have already proved that there cannot be any government by force or by fake or farcical election. And they have been rejected by the people.”
Mr Khan is one of the few senior leaders of the BNP not under arrest.
He alleges that more than 20,000 party supporters have been arrested on what he calls "fictitious and concocted charges", while cases have been filed against millions of party activists.
The government denies this, with Prime Minister Hasina insisting the elections were free and fair.
“Those who want to criticize, they can criticize. It is their liberty. I have my own belief whether it is right or wrong. I believe that and I trust on that. I trust on myself that yes I have done the right thing and the election was free and fair. ... If any party doesn't participate in an election, that doesn't mean there is no democracy. You have to consider whether the people have participated or not. And you know... you mentioned the party. What did they do? They set fire, they kill people.”
The BNP and other parties staged months of protests last year, demanding Ms Hasina step down ahead of the vote.
Officers in the port city of Chittagong broke up an opposition protest on election day, firing shotguns and tear gas canisters.
But election officials said voting was largely peaceful, with nearly 800,000 police officers and soldiers deployed across Bangladesh.
Alexander Barton Gary is an International Observer from the United States.
“While we did not witness instances of violence or disruption, we have seen media reports of such instances across Bangladesh and we have expressed to the appropriate authorities our concerns. However, as stated, none of us have personally observed anything other than a fair, transparent and accountable election in line with democratic
The win extends Ms Hasina's 15-year rule.
It makes her one of the most defining and divisive leaders in the nation's history.
Ms Hasina's Awami League party won 222 seats out of 299, according to the Election Commission, cementing a majority in Parliament.
Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya is a Dhaka based economist and public policy analyst .
He says the prime minister faces a number of challenges ahead.
“Because of the absence of the mainstream opposition party in the election, the new government will have great challenge in terms of establishing its political legitimacy. And in the eyes of the civil society, I think it will also be questioned in terms of its moral legitimacy. So from that point of the view, we haven't had any election and we will see for quite some time the debates around the election: how it has happened? What would have been the actual vote turnout rate? To what extent, there had been false voting or rigging?”
Bangladesh has been struggling with the escalating cost of living.
Inflation was around 9.5 percent in November.
Its foreign exchange reserves have dropped from a record A$71 billion in August of 2021 to around A$29 billion, now.
“Stabilisation of the economy is the major concern, the inflation rate, the exchange rate, and the interest rate. But over and above which is there it is our outstanding external dues. The government will have to have access to you know budgetary support measures, which is trying to line up from the, beyond IMF, from the World Bank, ADB to finance all the import dues which is still outstanding.”
Prime Minister Hasina's family is deeply intertwined with the history and politics of Bangladesh.
Her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is known as the "Father of Bangladesh."
He led the country's independence movement and became its first president before being assassinated in 1975, along with most of Ms Hasina's immediate family.
Jyoti Rahman is a Canberra-based economist.
He is concerned that there is no plan forward should Ms Hasina cease to be prime minister.
“If something were to happen to her tomorrow, there is no mechanism through which, either from the party, or from her family there is an obvious successor, or even how the successor would be chosen, even that is not clear.”
