Both elections and violent incidents are topics of discussion in Bangladesh. Voting was held last Sunday amid a boycott by the main opposition party Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). After which, during the counting of votes, Bangladesh Election Commission late in the night declared Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s party Awami League as the winner with two-thirds majority. After which she will now lead Bangladesh as Prime Minister for the fifth time.
bangladesh parliament
There is a parliament in Bangladesh which is called Jatiya Sangsad i.e. House of the Nation. There are 350 members in this Parliament. Out of these 350 members, 300 members are elected through voting and 50 seats are reserved for women on the basis of vote share. Now, to form the government in Bangladesh, any political party is required to win 151 seats and parliamentary elections in this country are held every five years.
voting in elections
Like most countries, in Bangladesh too a candidate can cast only one vote. During this, the candidate who gets the most votes wins, after the selection of the Prime Minister, that candidate takes the oath in Bengali or English. There are two major parties in Bangladesh, the first party is Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League Party. The other party is the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party led by former PM Khaleda Zia.
Why did the opposition not contest the elections?
The country’s main opposition party, Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its supporting parties allege that Sheikh Hasina’s government is not fair and transparent. These parties allege that the present government rigs the general elections and manipulates during voting. However, Sheikh Hasina’s government has always denied this allegation. One of the reasons for boycotting the general elections by the opposition is that about 28 thousand leaders and supporters of BNP and its allies are in jail. Let us tell you that there are many faces in jail who could have played the role of a strong opposition.
history of bangladesh
Bangladesh was a part of India before 1947. At that time Bangladesh was called East Bengal. Eight years after the partition of India and Pakistan, i.e. in the year 1955, the name of East Bengal was changed to East Pakistan. Then after the war between India and Pakistan in 1971, East Pakistan became Bangladesh. At that time, the power of the country came into the hands of the Awami League Party and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman became the first President and then Prime Minister of Bangladesh. He is also called the founder of Bangladesh. He was the Prime Minister of the country from 17 April 1971 to 15 August 1975. But he was murdered on the same day. After the assassination of Mujibur Rahman, the reins of Awami League Party were taken over by his daughter Sheikh Hasina. In the year 1981, Sheikh Hasina was elected the leader of Awami League Party. After this, he served as Prime Minister twice from 1996 to 2000 and from 2008 to 2013. Even when the opposition party had boycotted the election in 2014, Sheikh was serving on the post of Prime Minister. Let us tell you that after independence from Pakistan in 1971, 12 general elections have been held in Bangladesh.
