Bangladesh to Hold Elections Sunday Despite Boycott

DHAKA: Bangladesh is expected to hold its scheduled national elections Sunday, despite a boycott by opposition candidates.

While the ruling Awami League is assured a victory in a field devoid of challengers, analysts still expect the election to deepen the south Asian nation's political turmoil.

Winners have already been declared without a contest in more than half of the national assembly seats because of the opposition's boycott.

The opposition, led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, has stayed away from the polls, saying the election process is too heavily tilted in favor of the ruling party.

Opposition groups accuse Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League of standing in the way of fair elections by scrapping a neutral interim-administration system that has overseen elections since 1996.

In 2011, the Awami League changed the constitution to get rid of the caretaker system, allowing the ruling party to stay in power until elections ended.

Ms. Hasina denies that she is attempting to influence the election. "We took an oath as an elected government to uphold democracy," she said in a televised speech Thursday. "That is why the elections will take place on January fifth in accordance with the constitution."

For decades, Ms. Hasina, the 65-year-old daughter of Bangladesh's first president and independence leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, has alternated in power with the BNP and its 67-year-old leader Begum Khaleda Zia —the widow of Ziaur Rahman, a former president and military commander during the country's 1971 war of independence.

With the election just days away, opposition leaders say police in riot gear have blocked Ms. Zia from leaving her house in Dhaka to take part in opposition rallies.

"The police have kept her house cordoned off for days and she is under de facto house arrest," said Selima Rahman, a senior BNP leader.

The government denies Ms. Zia is under house arrest. On Friday, police maintained a heavy presence in front of the opposition leader's walled compound. Police officials said the measures had been taken for Ms. Zia's protection.

The U.S. and the European Union have declined to send election observers to Bangladesh, casting further doubt on the credibility of the elections.

"We're disappointed that the major political parties have not yet reached a consensus on a way to hold free, fair, and credible elections," a U.S. State Department spokeswoman said in a statement Friday.

Human rights groups say more than 200 people have died in political violence since November, when opposition parties started sometimes-violent street protests to try to force Ms. Hasina to reinstate the caretaker system.

Ms. Hasina has responded by cracking down on her opponents. The police have arrested dozens of opposition leaders and rounded up thousands of opposition activists.

The strikes called by the opposition have hurt the economy, especially the $20 billion garment industry, which was already struggling to recover from a series of deadly industrial accidents.

Political analysts say Sunday's election is unlikely to improve conditions in Bangladesh.

"If the country is closed for political dialogue, it will be difficult to convince the world that it is open for business," said Shahiduzzaman, a professor of security studies and international relations at Dhaka University who uses one name.