The 10th Parliamentary elections were held in
Bangladesh on 5 January 2014 against the backdrop of
the opposition alliance’s boycott and blockade
programme, amidst a whirl of apprehensions, tension
and violence. The boycott of the major opposition party,
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies,
particularly Jamaat-e-Islami, has emerged as the key
determinant of election outcomes and its aftermath.
Three views are particularly discernible about this
boycott. According to one view, this boycott was self-
imposed and was part of a larger strategic move by the
opposition parties. Riding on popular support and
ascendancy of hard-line leadership in parties, they took
an unyielding stance on elections. Another view is that
it was inevitable due to the lack of a conducive
environment for participation since the caretaker
government (CTG) system was scrapped by the 15th
amendment of the Constitution of Bangladesh. They
believe that no elections could be acceptable to them
without CTG. The third view is focused on the process
of holding elections under the current system, but with a
new poll-time administration and a bigger and more
substantive role of the Election Commission. Of course,
this has to be based on political settlement by the two
major political parties – the Awami League (AL) and
BNP. The United Nations-brokered initiative led by
Oscar Fernandez Taranco emphasised the third view to
resolve the impasse. Ironically, no political settlement
was reached. Both the ruling and opposition alliances
opted for absolute gains.
Having no option as per the constitutional provision as
well as political ‘common sense’, the government and
the Election Commission organised the elections. In
fact, the unique political environment in the country has
produced an unprecedented election both in its process
and outcome. A total number of 153 members of
Parliament were elected uncontested and the remaining
147 were up for voting. With a poor voter turnout (40
per cent by the Election Commission) by Bangladesh
standards (87 per cent in the December 2008 elections),
the ruling Awami League bagged 232 seats. The Jatiya
Party, made up of former military dictator Ershad, won
33 seats, becoming the second largest party in
Parliament. Members of Parliament have already sworn
in and a new Cabinet has been formed with Sheikh
Hasina as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Despite
some reservations, the international community has
recognised the government. The US and EU are
continuing their diplomatic parleys to bring all political
parties to a dialogue, and are working on the possibility
of a mid-term election.
Although the elections have been questioned by various
quarters in Bangladesh and beyond due to non-
participation of the main opposition parties, a critical
aspect of this election is the unleashing of widespread
violence before, during, and after the polls. Since the
early 1990s Bangladesh witnessed four general elections
held under a caretaker (CTG) system. Interestingly, all
defeated political parties and alliances seriously
questioned the credibility of these elections too. A
short-lived election was held in February 1996 under the
party-run administration which lasted for about forty
five days. In 2014, for the second time, an election was
held under a non-caretaker government (officially known
as an all-party government) in the post-mass upsurge
era. Unlike the past, the main opposition party was
invited to join the poll-time government, but it was
rejected. It became clear at the end of 2011 that politics
in Bangladesh was turning into a ‘zero-sum-game’
primarily on the question of ‘election administration’,
which was changed by the ruling alliance with their
brute majority in the national Parliament.
While the quality of the 10th Parliamentary elections has
been questioned in terms of credibility, inclusivity and
participation, domestic politics demands special mention
to understand the elections and its outcome. Domestic
politics in Bangladesh started to transform into a new
and difficult shape when the ruling alliance announced
the trial of war criminals. The International Crimes
Tribunal (ICT) was set up in 2009 as a war crimes
tribunal in Bangladesh to investigate and prosecute
suspects for the genocide and crimes against humanity
committed in 1971 by the Pakistani Army and their local
collaborators, Razakars , Al-Badr and Al-Shams . The
formation of ICT jolted the opposition camp. The second
largest party in the opposition camp, Jamaat-e-Islam is
directly linked with war crimes during the Liberation War
in 1971. Top leaders of Jamaat have been charged with
war crimes over the past four decades. The triggering
incident was the verdict against a central leader of
Jamaat, Moulana Delwar Hossain Sayedee. Following
the verdict in February 2013, the Party unleashed
massive violence throughout the country especially in
their strongholds – mainly border districts.
Violence has become a political weapon of opposition
politics, spearheaded by the war crimes-charged party.
The subsequent Hefazat phenomenon has added
impetus to this rising spree of political violence. The
intermingling of extremist violence and the political
movement led by the opposition alliance has emerged
as the body blow to Bangladesh’s nascent democracy.
With capital punishment being awarded to to one of the
leading war criminals – Abdul Kader Mollah - politics in
Bangladesh needs to be redefined and re-
conceptualised. The 10th Parliamentary elections were
held in the evolving parameters of Bangladeshi politics,
where political stability and democratic governance have
been traded with violence and extremism for absolute
political gains.
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