Polls have closed and counting is underneath manner in Bangladesh’s basic election, marked by a low voter turnout and a boycott by the opposition and its allies.
Sunday’s “one-sided” vote, because the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Occasion (BNP) put it, is ready to maintain Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in energy for the fourth straight and total fifth time period.
It was the twelfth basic election within the nation of 170 million folks because it seceded from Pakistan and have become an impartial state in 1971.
The opposition introduced its boycott of the vote final yr after Hasina refused to step down and make manner for a impartial caretaker authorities to conduct the election. There was an analogous boycott by the opposition in 2014.
The turnout was about 40 %, Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal stated, virtually half of the greater than 80 % within the 2018 election. Preliminary outcomes are anticipated early on Monday.
“The important thing query on this election just isn’t who will win – the result’s predetermined – however somewhat a take a look at of its credibility,” stated Al Jazeera’s Jonah Hull, reporting from the capital Dhaka.
