PM Sheikh Hasina re-elected for fifth term in Bangladesh amid concerns of fading legitimate opposition

Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has won a fifth term in power with her party taking three-quarters of seats in parliament, election officials said on Monday, Jan. 8.

The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which has seen its ranks diminished by mass arrests, called a general strike and, along with dozens of others, refused to participate in what they dubbed a “sham election”.

At least 18 arson attacks preceded the vote in the election which saw a modest 40% turnout. The overwhelming majority of the seats in the parliament were secured by Hasina’s political allies.

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