Bangladesh ruling party set to win vote boycotted by rivals
ABC News
Bangladesh is holding a series of local elections to choose representatives at the village level amid a boycott by the country’s largest opposition party
SREENAGAR, Bangladesh -- Bangladesh's ruling party is set to win a series of local elections to choose representatives at the village level amid a boycott by the country’s largest opposition party, after widespread allegations of misconduct in the last national vote.
The ruling Awami League party of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is all but certain to win Thursday's election for 848 rural councils. A total of 4,571 local councils, known as union parishads and responsible for community development and public welfare services at the village level, are being contested in phases.
In the first phase of elections for 204 councils in June, 148 candidates from the ruling party won and the rest went to independents.
Analysts say it's an opportunity for the ruling party to consolidate its position ahead of the next general elections slated for 2023. It follows the trend in the last two general elections in 2014 and 2018, which Hasina's party won in a landslide despite allegations of vote rigging and manipulation.
