Dhaka, Jan 7 (EFE).– Voting in Bangladesh’s parliamentary election began Sunday amid opposition calls for boycotts and the government’s effort to ensure maximum voter turnout.
Voters will elect representatives to 299 of the 300 parliamentary seats as authorities have suspended the election in one seat after a candidate died.
Some 1,900 candidates from 28 political parties, mostly endorsed by the ruling Awami League, are contesting the election.
Voting will continue until 4pm local time before the authorities begin counting the results.
Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies have boycotted the election and are observing a 48-hour general strike starting on Saturday, urging people to refrain from voting.
Violence has flared up across the country despite the heavy deployment of security forces.
Local media and the fire service reported arson attacks on over a dozen polling centers in different parts of the country between Friday and Saturday.
Miscreants also set fire to several vehicles, including a train on Friday night near the main station in capital Dhaka which left at least four people dead.
The government has deployed the army in 62 districts and the navy in two coastal districts until Jan.10 to maintain law and order during the election.
Moreover, 1,151 platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh forces and nearly 190,000 police personnel have also been deployed.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her ruling Bangladesh Awami League are poised to win their fourth consecutive term, as Islamists and leftists have also boycotted the election alongside the main opposition BNP.
The decision to boycott stems from Hasina’s refusal to dissolve her government and establish an interim administration to oversee the elections, a crucial demand from the opposition following allegations of poll fraud in 2018.
The BNP has decried the arrest of over 24,000 of its leaders and activists by the police since Oct. 28, when a major anti-government demonstration was quashed by security forces.
In response, the BNP initiated general strikes and blockades and urged the people to abstain from paying taxes and participating in the electoral process.
The Awami League and BNP have led Bangladesh since 1991, except for a brief quasi-military government in 2007–2008. EFE
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