Bangladesh Election LIVE: Sheikh Hasina wins for the fifth time

At least 14 polling centres and two schools in 10 districts of Bangladesh were set on fire between Friday evening and early Saturday hours before general elections, reported the Dhaka Tribune.

Earlier on Saturday, miscreants torched a polling centre in Lalmonirhat's Hatibandha upazila.

The centre, Sheikh Sundar Masterpara Primary School, was set on fire around 10 pm on Saturday

As Bangladesh votes in the 2024 general elections today, the country's Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan says, "...I am confident (of winning) because we did many things. The people love Sheikh Hasina."

On BNP boycotting the election, he says, "...The leadership of BNP has become very crucial and they are taking decisions against people's will..."

He also says, "...We have received support from the inception of Bangladesh...I know what cooperation we received from India. So, we believe that this type of brotherly relation will continue."

12th general assembly elections

119.6 million registered voters

42,000 polling stations

Voting held in 299 out of 300 constituencies

1,500 candidates

27 political parties

436 independent candidates.

100 foreign observers, including three from India

The voting is being held in 299 out of the 300 constituencies. More than 1,500 candidates from 27 political parties are contesting in the election besides 436 independent candidates.

Over 100 foreign observers, including three from India, will monitor the 12th general election, which is being held under tight security.

More than 7.5 lakh members of law enforcement agencies and security forces have been deployed to ensure law and order during the polls.

Campaigning in the South Asian nation of 169 million has been marred with violence as at least 15 people have been killed in recent months. Hostilities reached a boiling point in late October, after a massive rally in Dhaka by the BNP saw clashes with police.

As the election neared, authorities blamed much of the violence on the BNP, who they accuse of seeking to sabotage the election. On Saturday, detectives arrested seven men belonging to the BNP and its youth wing for their alleged involvement in the passenger train attack. The opposition party denied any role in the incident, and say they are being blamed by authorities who want to discredit their “peaceful and nonviolent movement.”

Stability of Bangladesh – the world’s second-largest garment manufacturer – and, potentially, the further slide of democratic values in a region in which India and China vie for influence, reports Al Jazeera.

And, it’s a country which international rights groups say is a serial abuser of human rights no matter which side is in power.

As polling begins for general elections in Bangladesh on Sunday, Bangladesh Awami League (BAL) candidate and Dhallywood actor Ferdous Ahmed expressed his confidence in the Awami League's victory in the 12th national election, adding that Sheikh Hasina would become PM for the fifth time.

"We are very excited and eagerly waiting for this moment. PM has just submitted her vote. The whole is coming to the centres and voting...We will win, I am 100 per cent confident. I will win and my PM will come back to power for the fifth time," he said.

During the first hour of voting, very few voters were seen in Dhaka-10- a constituency in the capital with 313,744 registered voters and where PM Hasina voted earlier, reported Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera visited at least three polling stations in this constituency and found fewer than 100 voters.

The stations were, however, crowded with ruling party activists and polling agents.

Weeks after turbulent wage-rise protests and subsequent factory closures, Bangladesh’s ready-made garment (RMG) industry, a key revenue earner for the nation, is dealing with a new phase of anxiety of “possible” economic sanctions by the country’s Western partners, reports Al Jazeera.

The US and EU collectively account for more than 80 percent of Bangladesh’s multibillion-dollar apparel sales.

Accompanied by her daughter and other members of her family, Hasina voted at City College in the capital, Dhaka, minutes after polling began at 8 a.m. (0200 GMT). It will run until 4 p.m. (1000 GMT), followed by the counting of votes.

"I think the voter turnout will not be less than 50 percent by the end of the day. The environment is peaceful across the country," said Bangladesh Election Commissioner Anisur Rahman, reports PTI.

The country witnessed a rampant increase in violence in several districts before polling. At least 14 polling centres and two schools in 10 districts of Bangladesh were set on fire between Friday evening and early Saturday hours, reported Dhaka Tribune.

Amid the general elections in Bangladesh, the main opposition party, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), issued a call for a 48-hour nationwide 'hartal' (general strike) commencing on Saturday to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's "illegal government," the Dhaka Tribune reported.

Bangladesh began voting Sunday in an election expected to give a fifth term in office to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, after a boycott led by an opposition party she branded a "terrorist organisation".

Hasina has presided over exceptional economic growth in a country once beset by grinding poverty, but her government has been accused of rampant human rights abuses and a ruthless opposition crackdown.

Her party faces almost no effective rivals in the seats it is contesting but has avoided fielding candidates in a few seats, an apparent effort to avoid the legislature being branded a one-party institution.

The country's main opposition party's vice chairman Nitai Roy Chowdhury on Saturday alleged that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina-led government is neck deep in corruption. "This government out and out from head to neck is corrupt. They have connections. This is not a democratic government. Development cannot be there without democracy. People's participation must be there," Roy from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) told PTI.

Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Masud bin Momen says, "For any economy to move in a particular trajectory the policies & programs in the economic areas need to have some continuity. If policies keep on changing with the change of programs the economic progress is also hampered. But we have seen in the last 15 years, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the helm of the affairs our economic progress has been consistent and our poverty, reduction programs, have really been successful, but also in the social areas like women's empowerment and, the health sector. Inequality has been kept in check and especially mainstreaming women forces, have also been very visible, in the last few years..."

There are 436 independent candidates in the race, the most since 2001 which the BNP claimed that the Awami League has propped up "dummy" candidates to try to make the election look credible.

During Sheikh Hasina's third term the country turned around the $416-billion economy and its massive garments industry. She was also praised internationally for sheltering nearly a million Rohingya Muslims fleeing from neighbouring Myanmar.

The country's economy, once among the world's fastest-growing, was rocked by violent protests recently after a jump in the cost of living.

Bangladesh struggles to pay for costly energy imports amid depleting dollar reserves and a domestic currency.

The International Monetary Fund cleared the first review of Bangladesh's $4.7 billion bailout in December. This provided immediate access to $468.3 million and set $221.5 million for its climate change agenda.

Nearly 800,000 police, paramilitary and police auxiliaries will guard the polls on election day. Army, navy and air force have also been deployed while as many as 127 foreign observers will track the election process.

As Bangladesh goes to the polls today, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina extended her wishes for India and said that Bangladesh is lucky to have a trusted friend like India. She also highlighted India's support during the Liberation War in 1971.

In her message to India, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said, ''We are very lucky...India is our trusted friend. During our Liberation War, they supported us...After 1975, when we lost our whole family...they gave us shelter. So our best wishes to the people of India."

The main opposition party is Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of the former prime minister Khaleda Zia.

The BNP is boycotting the poll after demanding Sheikh Hasina's resignation as the party wanted a caretaker government to administer the election.

Violence erupted on the eve of the election as a passenger train was set on fire which officials called arson. At least four people were killed and several polling booths set ablaze around the country, it was reported.

Women are almost half of the nearly 120 million eligible voters. First-time voters number about 15 million, news agency Reuters reported.

On BNP's call for a 48-hour general strike, a local says, "In our country, there are 46 registered parties from the election commission. BNP is just one party. Only one party cannot define our country's political system. I will go to the vote centre to cast my vote because I want to elect my representative..."

The country of almost 170 million people will vote tomorrow as polling begins at 8am and ends at 4pm. Counting will start soon after the end of voting. The initial results are expected by Monday.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is set to win a fourth straight term and the fifth overall for her Awami League-led alliance in a general election on Sunday boycotted by the main opposition party and marred by violence ahead of the vote. Read more

Voters in Bangladesh began casting their ballots Sunday as polls opened in an election fraught with violence and a boycott from the main opposition party, paving the way for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League to seize a fourth consecutive term.

Authorities said at least 18 arson attacks were reported across the country since late Friday, with 10 of them targeting polling places, reported AP. Four people died Friday in an arson attack on a passenger train heading toward the capital, Dhaka. The incidents have intensified tensions ahead of the parliamentary elections that the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its allied groups said they would shun.

Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina said the main opposition party boycotting national election was a "terrorist organisation", adding that she was trying to ensure her country remained democratic.

"The BNP is a terrorist organisation," she told waiting reporters after casting her vote. "I am trying my best to ensure that democracy should continue in this country."