THOSE who have been following general elections in the subcontinent may be excused for receiving the news from Bangladesh with trepidation. The Awami League of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed has swept the polls with a margin that will surprise even those who were predicting a massive win for the party. With 288 seats, AL has bulldozed the opposition alliance led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. The election on Saturday was held for 300 slots in parliament. Another 50 seats are reserved for women. Sheikh Hasina was contesting on the back of the huge economic leaps the country has made under her leadership, mainly due to Bangladesh’s emergence as the second-largest garment exporter in the world behind mighty China. Whereas the opposition and some independent analysts complain of exploitation and of concentration of money in a few hands, these issues have been overlooked because of the general sense of prosperity that has come to prevail in the country. However, even a casual glance will show that more than an ‘economic turnaround’ has gone into securing this stupendous election result for AL.

The prime minister has been on the warpath, as seen in the acrimonious, deeply divisive politics of her country — rivalling that of other states in South Asia. There has been widespread persecution of members of the opposition, leading to severe sentences for charges as serious as treason. A new chapter has been added to her long-running engagement with BNP leader Begum Khaleda Zia. Begum Zia had boycotted the previous polls held four years ago and only stood in this latest one under the shadow of a law that threatened her party with extinction in the event of not taking part. If this were not enough, there were other steps that led to allegations of the use of unfair means by the government of Sheikh Hasina in the run-up to the voting. A large number of opposition activists were arrested and restrictions placed on the use of internet in the name of curbing propaganda. All this was seen with concern by those who know from history what the quest for absolute power, aided by a controlled, oppressive model of democracy, can lead to. It can culminate in intense confrontational politics at great cost to the people. But even as the statistics of the general election point to a dangerous divide, let’s hope Bangladesh manages to avoid a clash that could undermine its progress.

Published in Dawn, January 1st, 2019