Skip to main content
Advertise Buy the paper Contact us Shop Subscribe Support us
The continued threat to democracy in Bangladesh: the case of another one-sided election
With the main opposition party boycotting the polls the Awami League is guaranteed to win yet another term, writes ARKA BHADURI

ONE week on from New Year’s Day, Bangladesh is set to hold its 12th general election. Close to 2,000 candidates from 28 parties are going to contest it. However, with 62 political parties including the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) as well as the Left Democratic Front (LDF) having boycotted the election, the incumbent Awami League (AL) is sure to win another term. 

The BNP has called for a strike on election day. The LDF, which includes the Communist Party, Socialist Party and Socialist Party (Marxist), among others, has also urged voters to boycott the election.  

Boycotting elections and rejecting election results is nothing new in Bangladesh. The AL itself had boycotted the 1996 general election in response to its demand for holding the election under a caretaker government being refused by the then ruling BNP. 

Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Features / 22 July 2024
22 July 2024
As deadly police violence escalates and fiery protests spread, ARKA BHADURI explains how a fight for fair recruitment for public service jobs has become a challenge to the ruling Awami League’s grip on power
Features / 6 July 2024
6 July 2024
The second and final vote this weekend pits the National Rally against a ‘Republican Front’ of leftists and centrists — but will the more right-wing side of this hastily assembled pact hold up, or will it side with Le Pen, asks ARKA BHADURI
Similar stories
Features / 10 August 2024
10 August 2024
As an interim government takes shape, MOSHFIQUR NOOR examines the challenges ahead and the delicate balance between rapid reform and political stability, in the first of a three-part series
World / 5 August 2024
5 August 2024