ISAS Briefs

The elections that were completed in Bangladesh on 5 January 2014 exacted a heavy toll, not just in lives and limbs – though there were plenty of that as well – b ut in terms of costs to Bangladesh’s reputation as a pluralist and democratic polity. I say ‘completed’ because the p rocess began sometime ago, when in the face of the refusal of the principal opposition, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by Begum Khaleda Zia , to participate in the polls, the Awami League (AL) government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina won in a canter, indeed in a gallop, in what was a ‘walk - over’ (in cricketing parlance), starting with the uncontested election of 153 candidates to a Parliament of 300 . The numbers were sufficient for Hasina and her allies to form government. Khaleda’s decision to boycott the polls flowed from a deep distrust of her opponent, under whose aegis she felt the elections would not be free and fair. Hence her insistence that Hasina resign and polls be held under a neutral government