NEW DELHI: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday secured a record fifth term (fourth consecutive term) as her Awami League party won two-thirds of the seats in the general elections marred by sporadic violence and a boycott by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies.
“We can call Awami League winner with the already available results but the final announcement will be made after the end of the counting of votes in the rest of the constituencies,” an election commission spokesman said. The final results are expected to be announced on Monday. Hasina won the Gopalganj-3 seat for the eighth time since 1986.
She bagged 2,49,965 votes while her nearest rival M Nizam Uddin Lashkar from the Bangladesh Supreme Party secured just 469 votes. Media collating results from polling stations said Hasina had won more than two-thirds of seats in parliament with nearly 90% of the results declared.
Of the 264 seats of the total 300 announced, Hasina’s Awami League had won 204 and her allied Jatiya Party nine more, according to results collated by Somoy TV. Among the victors was Shakib Al Hasan, the Bangladesh cricket team captain, who won his seat for Hasina’s party be a landslide.
Hasina has urged members of her Awami League party not to take out any victory processions after the results are announced. As per the election commission, the voter turnout was 40%, in contrast to the 80% recorded in 2018. Though the election day was largely peaceful, there were some reports of violence from different parts of the country.
The election was boycotted by the opposition led by Khaleda Zia’s BNP, which has called the process a sham and urged people not to take part. Two persons were taken to Chattogram Medical College Hospital after they were shot during a clash between supporters of two candidates running for the Chattogram-10 seat. Clashes were also reported from other parts. Two persons were injured after a clash between supporters of the Awami League candidate and an independent candidate at a polling centre in Jamalpur’s Sharishabari.