As Bangaldesh votes, the world’s major powers are seeking to control over what happens next, with Sheikh Hasina set to win another term. When Bangladesh goes for election polls on January 7, 2024, the great performance of democracy will take the centre stage. Voting booths will be set up, voters will cast votes, and they will be counted. However, despite the show, there is no surprise twist lurking for election watchers because the result is already known.
Reason for Awami League Victory
Bangladesh’s longest-serving Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will extend her reign and be re-elected for the fifth time and her party, will form government once again as the main opposition party to the Awami League, the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) has decided to boycott the elections. In explaining the reason, the acting chairman of the BNP Tariq Rahman told an international magazine that “as long as Hasina retains power, every election in Bangladesh will involve extensive irregularities, making the much-anticipated level of playing fields a distant dream.”
Many people affiliated to the BNP are facing court cases. The number has staggeringly increased, with each activist facing from dozes to four hundred. The government has supported the crackdown by claiming that opposition activists are spreading violence, torching public transport, and hurling crude bombs on police and other officials. The BNP accuses the government of sabotaging the opposition movement with government agent’s ad Awami League Party members posing as opposition to commit violent acts.
Involvement of Major Powers in Elections
Regional powers and global superpowers are monitoring and are getting more and more highly involve in the election. Some examples include India, China, Russia and the United States of America (USA). India and China support the Awami League.
Sheikh Hasina met Xi Jinping in August 2023 and the dragon is investing heavily in Bangaldesh through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). India on the other hand, shares over 4000 km of contiguous border with Bangladesh and uses ports in the nation as transit to connect its northeastern frontier to the other parts of the country and this was only possible due to Hasina’s friendly gesture towards India.
As far as the US in concerned, it wants free and fair elections to be held in Bangladesh. The US is the major destination billion-dollar textile exports. Due to the liberal visa regime, many Bangladeshi politicians, elite and other powerful people have set up homes in the country.
The Russian Federation has publicly accused the United States of America of interfering in the internal matters of Bangaldesh and also claimed that the US plans to create an Arab Spring-like post elections in Bangaldesh to overthrow Hasina’s government.
In a recent keynote speech in Dhaka, India’s former foreign minister, MJ Akbar claimed that superpowers want puppets who can serve their interest because Bangladesh is important geopolitically. Akbar termed Sheikh Hasina as the “liberator of democracy from dictatorship”.
