Bangladesh: Polls register low voter turnout amid boycott by opposition BNP

In the midst of intermittent unrest and a boycott by the main opposition party BNP and its allies, Bangladeshis voted in small numbers on Sunday in the general elections that prime minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to win for a fourth consecutive term.

The first estimates of voter turnout were about 40%, but Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal stated that the final count may have changed the percentage.

The electoral commission reported an hour before the polls closed that 27.15% of voters had participated at 3 p.m. Overall voter turnout for the 2018 general election was over 80%.

He claimed that 299 of the 300 constituencies had calm voting, with the exception of a few isolated violent occurrences. Due to a candidate’s passing, the Commission decided to suspend voting in one seat.

At the very end of the voting period, the Commission revoked the candidacy of the Awami League candidate in power in northeastern Chattogram because he had “scolded and threatened” a police officer. Due to this circumstance, two dissident candidates who are also members of the ruling party will now face off in the constituency’s polls.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by the sick and imprisoned former premier Khaleda Zia, asked citizens to boycott the polls, which resulted in a poor voter turnout. No election would be held under the current administration, according to the party would be fair and credible.

Nothing of the customary election-day fervor was evident. There were only election agents and supporters of the ruling party there, even in front of the campaign booths.

Absent lengthy lines, voters cast their ballots without interruption, giving the presiding officers free time.

Three locations—two in Narayanganj and one in Narsingdi—were closed to voting. According to sources, the Election Commission issued an order for the son of Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun to be arrested on suspicion of election fraud in Narsingdi.

During a fight between the supporters of two candidates vying for the Chattogram-10 seat, shots were fired. Shot, two individuals were transported to Chattogram Medical College Hospital: Shanto Barua, 24, and Jamal, 35.

Following a brawl between Awami League supporters and an independent candidate at a voting place in Jamalpur’s Sharishabari, two persons were hurt.

Two homemade explosives detonated close to a polling place in Hazaribagh, Dhaka, injuring four people—among them a kid.

The nation’s Election Commission reports that 119.6 million registered voters were able to cast ballots at more than 42,000 polling places on Sunday.

Along with 436 independents, almost 1,500 candidates representing 27 political parties were running for office.

The 12th general election is being held under strict security, and over 100 foreign observers, including three from India, are watching it.

During the elections, around 7.5 lakh law enforcement and security personnel would be on duty to maintain peace and order.

Shortly after the polls opened, Prime Minister Hasina cast her ballot at the Dhaka City College polling place. She was accompanied by her daughter Saima Wazed.

Since 2009, Hasina, 76, has ruled; her Awami League became victorious in the most recent election in December 2018.

She is expected to win a fifth term overall and a fourth term as prime minister.

(With agency inputs)