DHAKA – Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was heading for a landslidewin in a general election Sunday that was marred by opposition claims ofvote-rigging and violence between rival supporters that killed at least 17people.
Hasina s ruling Awami League party easily crossed the 151 seats required toform a majority government, according to local TV station Channel 24, whichis compiling results from around the country.
As midnight approached, the Awami League and its allies had won 191 seats– some by tens of thousands of votes — while the opposition coalition hadonly five, the channel said.
The alliance running against Hasina, led by the main opposition BangladeshNational Party, branded the vote “farcical” and urged the country selection commission to void the results.
“We are demanding that a fresh election is held under a neutral governmentas early as possible,” Kamal Hossain, who heads the coalition, toldreporters.
Deadly violence and bitter rivalry that marred the election campaignspilled over into voting day, even as authorities imposed tight securitywith 600,000 troops, police and other security forces deployed across thecountry.
Thirteen people were killed in clashes between Awami League and BNPsupporters, police said, while three men were shot by police who said theywere protecting polling booths.
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An auxiliary police member was also killed by armed opposition activists,according to officials.
Hasina, 71, has been lauded for boosting economic growth in the poor SouthAsian nation during her decade in power and for welcoming Rohingya refugeesfleeing a military crackdown in neighbouring Myanmar.
But critics accuse her of authoritarianism and crippling the opposition –including arch-rival and BNP leader Khaleda Zia who is serving 17 years inprison on graft charges — to cling on to power.
The BNP-led opposition alliance on Sunday accused Hasina s party of usingstuffed ballot boxes and other illegal means to fix the result, which wasto be officially announced by the election commission on Monday.
BNP spokesman Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal told reporters there were”irregularities” in 221 of the 300 seats contested. “Voters are not allowedto enter booths. Especially women voters are being forced to vote for theboat,” Alal said, referring to the Awami League symbol.
