Bangladesh: Opposition Party Threatens to Boycott Election

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Facts

  • Bangladesh's main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), has warned that it will boycott January's election and delegitimize its outcome if Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina doesn't resign and allow a neutral government to oversee the vote.1
  • Abdul Moyeen Khan, a former minister, said that the BNP 'will not legitimize a fake election,' alleging that Hasina is undermining opposition parties and isn't willing to conduct a free and fair election.2
  • This comes after the BNP called for a three-day blockade of the country's highways, railways, and waterways following the detention of its secretary general, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, on Sunday.3
  • Though the BNP claims police have arrested 2.3K activists since Oct. 28, Hasina accuses the BNP of 'terrorism and hooliganism,' and refuses to hand over power to a caretaker government.1
  • On Wednesday, the second day of the blockade, a bus was set ablaze by protesters in the capital city of Dhaka. Three people were also reported killed during clashes between police and BNP supporters earlier this week.3
  • Bangladesh, ruled by Hasina's Awami League since 2009, has witnessed rising tension between the government and opposition forces. BNP leader Khaleda Zia, the two-time former prime minister, is currently under house arrest, while her son and the BNP's active chairman Tarique Rahman is in exile.4

Sources: 1Reuters, 2India Today, 3Independent and 4The Times of India.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by The New York Times. While it may not be on everyone's daily dictatorship radar, Bangladesh has slowly been taken over by an authoritarian regime, as proven by the fact that half of the BNP's 5M members are currently facing legal cases against them. This is a clear example of political persecution, with Hasina's party either drowning her opponents in court cases to stifle their ability to campaign, or outright forcing them to leave the country.
  • Narrative B, as provided by Malaysia Sun. As simplistic as it sounds, the party calling for peace and order is the right choice when voting in a national election. The Awami League, in the face of growing violence from the BNP and other like-minded parties, is trying to save the country from an opposition movement that condones arson and overthrowing prime ministers. Law-abiding Bangladeshis must consider the long-term importance of the upcoming election.