With fifth term, Sheikh Hasina hopes to usher in a golden age for Bangladesh – but problems await
The Awami League government faces a combination of the bad, ugly and uncertain with no promises of 15th century Sultan Alauddin Hossain Shah’s ‘Shonar Bangla’.
The January 7 election in Bangladesh was held without much violence, and the aftermath has, thus far, been relatively peaceful.
That is, perhaps, the best thing one can say about the affair.
At the start of the last hour of voting, the Election Commission website suggested a voter turnout of around 28%, which mysteriously jumped to nearly 42% in the next one hour. However, videos circulating on social media throughout the day suggest that the actual turnout might have been in single digits. The low turnout, of course, reflects the election boycott by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and other opposition parties.
There was no surprise in the result either. The Awami League, led by incumbent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, bagged 223 of 300 seats, with another 62 going to party members who ran as independents with the encouragement of the government. Eleven went to the Jatiya Party, a decades-old ally of the Awami League.
Hasina was sworn in as prime minister for a fifth term on January 7. If she completes another five years in power, she will have ruled Bangladesh for longer than anyone since Sultan Alauddin Hossain Shah, who reigned the delta during 1494-1518.
Under the sultan, Bengal experienced political stability, social tranquility, and cultural efflorescence. That was...
