Amid low turnout and boycott of the Bangladesh general elections, incumbent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has secured her fifth term in office after her Awami League Party secured absolute majority in the polls.
After voting took place on Sunday, the counting of votes saw the Awami League take an early lead, winning 216 seats out of 224 seats on Sunday. The outcome of the rest of the seats is still unannounced, the Election Commission of the country said.
Being elected for her fifth term as the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina has become the world’s longest-serving female head of state. Here are some key takeaways from the Bangladesh elections and its outcome.
Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina’s party Awami League has won the fourth consecutive term in the general elections of the country, while this is Hasina’s fifth overall term as the prime minister of the country.
Awami League chief Hasina has instructed her party leaders, workers and supporters not to hold any victory procession following the announcement of the results of the 12th general election, Dhaka Tribune reported.
Opposition party Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by former PM Khaleda Zia was flagged for anti-national activities ahead of the poll, and announced a boycott of the vote after Hasina refused to step down from her post to make way for a neutral caretaker government.
The Bangladesh elections of 2024 saw a considerably low voter turnout on Sunday, amid boycotts against the current government. The overall turnout was 40 per cent, Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal said after the polls closed.
According to TV stations in Bangladesh, Awami League has won 216 out of the total 299 seats in the country, while independent candidates took 52 seats and Jatiya Party won from 11 seats. However, the Election Commission has not announced the final results for all seats yet.
While the election day in Bangladesh was calm with little to no reports of disturbances, the pre-election protests saw at least 18 reports of arson, causing four deaths. The authorities blamed much of the violence on the BNP, accusing it of seeking to sabotage the election.
