Amid opposition boycott in Bangladesh, Hasina pushes poll as scheduled

-DR. ABDUL RUFF COLACHAL 

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One fails to understand what exactly Bangladesh aims at, although, true, anti-Islamism seems to guide the regime and its media for quite some time now.   

As it stands now Bangladesh is heading for general poll in January, ruling Awami League party is quite happy to win it since the BNP-led 18-party opposition alliance is boycotting it protesting against  Hasina's regime party’s misrule.

PM Hasina is trying to make Bangladesh her party property. Four free and fair polls have been held under caretaker governments in the past two decades, but Hasina scrapped the system in 2011 -- arguing that it was unconstitutional and could pave the way for military coups. The prime minister has instead formed an interim multi-party cabinet which includes her allies. 

The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by two-times ex-premier Khaleda Zia, has been demanding that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina quit and make way for a "non-party and impartial" chief executive to oversee the polls. It believes any polls held under Hasina will be rigged.

Bangladesh's 18-party opposition coalition led by Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) confirmed it would boycott a general election scheduled early next year, making the announcement hours before the nominations deadline and plunging the country into renewed political uncertainty.

The BNP and its allies demand that Hasina step down to make way for a neutral caretaker government to oversee the polls, as in the past.  But Hasina has rejected the demands for her resignation and is determined to hold the poll as scheduled, insisting it is a constitutional requirement.

The BNP announced the decision amid growing street protests-turned-violence that has left 51 people dead since late October and a string of strikes that have paralyzed large parts of the country. Some 80 people have been killed since late October when the BNP-led opposition launched protests, strikes and transport blockades to pressure Hasina to resign.

But the Hasina regime seems to be got a shot in its arm because opposition boycott will leave her party and partners easy win again.  Obviously, Hasina, now a very shrewd politician, has expected this turn of events of opposition boycott to sweep the poll without any opponents in the field. 

Happy about the emerging positive poll environment in their favor, the ruling Awami League is determined to go ahead with the polls, even though the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its 17 allies have vowed to boycott them unless Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina quits beforehand.

Unanimous election of candidates has become common in Bangladesh with just one candidate contesting for the constituency.  There will be no need for balloting in 151 constituencies for the January-5 parliamentary election as only one valid candidate is found in those seats each after the final scrutiny.  The BD Election Commission, a total of 151 parliamentary constituencies from across the country got lone candidates as the BNP-led 18-party alliance is boycotting the polls. The number of unopposed winners may rise further and cross 151, a number necessary for forming the government, an EC official told UNB wishing anonymity.   Of them, 127 candidates are of the ruling AL, 18 of HM Ershad’s Jatiya Party and one of Anwar Hossain Manju-led Jatiya Party-JP, three of JSD (Inu) and the rest two of Bangladesh Workers Party.  

The unopposed winners is going to surpass that of the largely-boycotted Feb-15 (1996) controversial election when 49 BNP candidates were elected uncontested.   In the Feb-15 (1996) one-sided election, 49 BNP candidates were elected MP uncontested. The election in 10 constituencies could not be held due to widespread violence. BNP won 279 parliamentary seats out of 290 in the sixth general election as it was largely boycotted.

Later, however, no candidate was elected unopposed in the four participatory national elections – 1991 (fifth), 1996 (seven), 2001 (eight) and 2008 (ninth) after the fall of HM Ershad’s regime.  But In the scrapped 2007 January 22 election, 18 candidates of BNP were elected uncontested. The election was cancelled after the 1/11 political changeover. In the 1988 fourth national election, 18 candidates were elected uncontested, while 11 candidates elected unopposed in the 1986 third election.

With poll nominations closing late Friday, the Election Commission said 154 seats in the 300-seat parliament have only one candidate each on the ballot paper, and 127 of the 154 are from the Awami League. Awami League allies are contesting another seven seats alone, meaning the ruling party or its allies need only win 17 of the contested seats to win a majority and stay in power.

The opposition, led by Hasina's rival Khaleda Zia, has said it fears the premier will try to rig the vote in a country plagued for decades by coups and political upheaval, and vowed to boycott the poll.

The BNP extended a 72-hour nationwide transport blockade to press its demands. Further, widespread violence over the death sentences handed down to opposition leaders led by Mollah by a controversial war crimes court  of Hasina earlier this year left more than 150 people dead, making 2013 the most violent since the country gained its independence from Pakistan in 1971.

Meanwhile, former ruler Hussain Muhammad Ershad said his Jatiya Party, the country’s third largest and a key ally of the ruling Awami League, would not contest the January 5 elections, following in the footsteps of the opposition alliance. “Since all parties are not contesting, so the Jatiya Party will also not participate in the polls,” Ershad told reporters, adding that a “proper environment” was absent for the elections. The announcement came as fresh violence erupted across the country between police and bomb-throwing opposition supporters over the elections, leaving another seven people dead.

At least 59 people have now died in street violence since late October, when the opposition launched a series of protests, strikes and transport blockades. It is trying to force Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to quit making way for a neutral administration to oversee the polls, as happened in past elections and has instead formed an interim multi-party cabinet which includes her allies.

Of the total, 21 have been killed since November 25, when the election date was announced, sparking a fresh round of opposition protests. Another protester died in the western town of Natore during clashes between hundreds of BNP supporters and ruling party activists, police said. "There is no question of us filing nominations for the January 5 election under the present circumstances. We're not going to take part in the January 5 elections," Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury, a BNP vice president.. Chowdhury said the BNP and its 17 smaller allies including the country's largest Islamic party would only change their minds "if the polls are organized by a non-party, neutral government". Chowdhury said the uncontested seats have "set a new mark in election fraudulence" in the country. "It's totally farcical. The government is implementing a blueprint to rob the people of their voting rights. The country's largest-circulation Bengali daily Prothom Alo said “Bangladesh is creating new history in election scandal" .

At least eight senior figures from the BNP have been arrested in recent weeks on suspicion of instigating violence. Chowdhury said the eight along with hundreds of grassroots opposition activists were detained on "false charges" and most other leaders were now in hiding.

Dozens of rail services have been suspended after opposition activists uprooted tracks, torched coaches and attacked trains with bombs. Late Sunday, a train was derailed, with seven coaches falling off the tracks, shutting the link between Dhaka and the major cities of Chittagong and Sylhet. As nominations close at 5 pm on Monday, the election officials said no BNP officials had filed by midday.

The government has been under intense international pressure to resolve a standoff over the general election set for January 5 amid a worsening of political violence that has left at least 80 people dead since late October.

The USA urged protesters to halt the “senseless violence” and called on rival political parties to hold talks to resolve the crisis and pave the way for “free and fair elections”. UN chief Ban Ki-moon and US Secretary of State John Kerry called Hasina last week to stress the need for talks with the opposition to resolve the election standoff. A senior UN envoy, the assistant secretary general for political affairs Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, visited the country from December 6 to try to broker talks between the major parties, but nothing tangible happened. India sent its foreign secretary.

The UN human rights chief Navi Pilay condemned the deadly street clashes and called for dialogue between political leaders to end "destructive brinkmanship". "Such levels of violence are deeply shocking for the Bangladeshi people, the vast majority of whom want -- and deserve -- a peaceful and inclusive election," said Pillay, the High Commissioner for Human Rights. "Whatever their differences, political leaders on both sides must halt their destructive brinkmanship, which is pushing Bangladesh dangerously close to a major crisis."

Fake democracy

One does not know if Bangladesh is moving towards  a terrocracy without polls so that Hasina can continue life time in office 

Bangladesh has witnessed at least 19 coups since August 1975 when Hasina's father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the country's founding leader, was assassinated. But now Hasina has knit close ties with military and hence does not fear soup now. 

The BNP has said it was still ready for dialogue to resolve the crisis but has accused the government of targeting its leaders.

With the opposition parties boycotting, Bangladesh's ruling party is set to win most of the seats in an upcoming election even before votes are cast, nomination figures showed Sunday, in a further blow to the credibility of the boycott-hit polls.

It is high time the Supreme Court stepped in to clear the Dhaka mess first by cancelling the poll schedule as null and void.