Staff Reporter :
The election atmosphere in Bangladesh is not enough to create equal opportunities or even near the ‘level playing field’ though the main opposition BNP has announced participating in the election, said the lower house of the British Parliament.
The House of Commons came up with the observation in a briefing paper (Number 8448) on Bangladesh, published on November 29.
Contents of the briefing paper are: Political outlook: elections set for 30 December and Bangladesh and the Rohingya crisis.
“Always high, the political temperature in Bangladesh rose further during 2018 as elections – due to be held by the end of the year – approached, according to the summery of the Political outlook: elections set for 30 December.
It says the main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), has not participated in National Elections since 2008. It (BNP) has now decided to participate in the 30 December elections, despite being unable to achieve its longstanding preconditions for doing so: the release of the BNP leader Khaleda Zia, from prison so that she can stand as a candidate; and the establishment of a neutral caretaker administration to oversee the elections.
Some argue that its decision to do so this time means that the 2018 elections will be more credible than many observers originally expected. But the ‘playing field’ remains far from level. Official harassment of political opponents remains intense. The AL enjoys the advantages of incumbency.
There are long-standing concerns about the independence of the Election Commission. Electronic Voting Machines are being used for the first time in National Elections. The BNP is opposed to them. Overall then, the degree of trust over the ‘rules of the game’ remains low. There are fears that this could foment violence and instability, whether during the election campaign or once the results have been announced. The AL government has said that troops will be deployed a fortnight before the elections to ensure security.
It has also been argued that the EU’s decision not to send a full-blown observer mission illustrates international scepticism about the elections.
Instead, the EU is sending a two-person ‘expert mission’. The Commonwealth has not yet said whether it will be sending an observer mission.
While the odds are stacked against the political opposition, it has taken actions which some analysts believe may help to boost its chances – in marked contrast, they say, to the last elections in 2014, which it boycotted, allowing the AL to entrench itself in power
The BNP has sought to burnish its secular credentials by forming a 20-party Jatiya Oikya front (Nat, Unity Front), headed by Dr. Kamal Hossain, a constitutional lawyer and former minister. Its closest political ally in the past, Jamaat-e- Islami, has been banned and cannot participate in the elections, although the AL claims that it is doing so surreptitiously by backing other Islamist and independent candidates.
The AL heads a 14-party alliance. In something of a role-reversal, this strongly secular party has established ties with some conservative Islamist groups in recent years- most notably, Hefajat-e-Islam.
Both main parties have said that they intend to focus mainly on economic issues during the election campaign. The AL will celebrate what it sees as a successful stewardship in terms of the country’s growth and social development; the BNP, by contrast, will argue that rampant maladministration and official corruption under Sheikh Hasina’s watch has held the country back.
The briefing papers prepared for members of British Parliament also highlighted human rights situation in Bangladesh, extra-judicial killings, freedom of expression and excessive use of force and repression on media personalities and students during the quota reform movement and road safety protest.
The paper also presents an in-depth analysis on Rohingya refugee crisis.
The election atmosphere in Bangladesh is not enough to create equal opportunities or even near the ‘level playing field’ though the main opposition BNP has announced participating in the election, said the lower house of the British Parliament.
The House of Commons came up with the observation in a briefing paper (Number 8448) on Bangladesh, published on November 29.
Contents of the briefing paper are: Political outlook: elections set for 30 December and Bangladesh and the Rohingya crisis.
“Always high, the political temperature in Bangladesh rose further during 2018 as elections – due to be held by the end of the year – approached, according to the summery of the Political outlook: elections set for 30 December.
It says the main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), has not participated in National Elections since 2008. It (BNP) has now decided to participate in the 30 December elections, despite being unable to achieve its longstanding preconditions for doing so: the release of the BNP leader Khaleda Zia, from prison so that she can stand as a candidate; and the establishment of a neutral caretaker administration to oversee the elections.
Some argue that its decision to do so this time means that the 2018 elections will be more credible than many observers originally expected. But the ‘playing field’ remains far from level. Official harassment of political opponents remains intense. The AL enjoys the advantages of incumbency.
There are long-standing concerns about the independence of the Election Commission. Electronic Voting Machines are being used for the first time in National Elections. The BNP is opposed to them. Overall then, the degree of trust over the ‘rules of the game’ remains low. There are fears that this could foment violence and instability, whether during the election campaign or once the results have been announced. The AL government has said that troops will be deployed a fortnight before the elections to ensure security.
It has also been argued that the EU’s decision not to send a full-blown observer mission illustrates international scepticism about the elections.
Instead, the EU is sending a two-person ‘expert mission’. The Commonwealth has not yet said whether it will be sending an observer mission.
While the odds are stacked against the political opposition, it has taken actions which some analysts believe may help to boost its chances – in marked contrast, they say, to the last elections in 2014, which it boycotted, allowing the AL to entrench itself in power
The BNP has sought to burnish its secular credentials by forming a 20-party Jatiya Oikya front (Nat, Unity Front), headed by Dr. Kamal Hossain, a constitutional lawyer and former minister. Its closest political ally in the past, Jamaat-e- Islami, has been banned and cannot participate in the elections, although the AL claims that it is doing so surreptitiously by backing other Islamist and independent candidates.
The AL heads a 14-party alliance. In something of a role-reversal, this strongly secular party has established ties with some conservative Islamist groups in recent years- most notably, Hefajat-e-Islam.
Both main parties have said that they intend to focus mainly on economic issues during the election campaign. The AL will celebrate what it sees as a successful stewardship in terms of the country’s growth and social development; the BNP, by contrast, will argue that rampant maladministration and official corruption under Sheikh Hasina’s watch has held the country back.
The briefing papers prepared for members of British Parliament also highlighted human rights situation in Bangladesh, extra-judicial killings, freedom of expression and excessive use of force and repression on media personalities and students during the quota reform movement and road safety protest.
The paper also presents an in-depth analysis on Rohingya refugee crisis.
