Bangladeshi PM rejects complaints of rigging after landslide win

World
Europe

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday rejected opposition complaints of vote rigging and said people had gone to the polls enthusiastically in a general election that her ruling alliance swept with a landslide.

The victory consolidates Hasina's decade-long rule in the South Asian nation, in which her government has overseen booming economic growth, but is accused of human rights abuses and suppressing dissent - charges that her government denies.

In a victory speech at her official residence in the capital Dhaka, Hasina, 71, touted robust support for her Awami League-led alliance, which won 287 of the 298 seats, while the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led alliance got six seats.

"They voted so enthusiastically," Hasina told a room full of journalists and foreign election observers. "What do people want? They want to fulfill their basic needs. When they feel that yes, only this government can ensure it, then definitely they will vote for us."

The opposition rejected the result and called for a fresh vote, complaining of what it said was widespread rigging.

Voters wait in a queue outside a polling station on the 11th general election day in Dhaka, Bangladesh, December 30, 2018. /VCG Photo

A visiting election monitoring group from South Asian countries said they had found nothing amiss in voting in the capital Dhaka.

At least 17 people were killed during Sunday's poll that followed a violent election campaign in which both sides blamed the other for casualties.

Candidates reported witnessing ballot-stuffing and vote-rigging by ruling party activists, who also barred opposition polling agents from voting centers, said opposition leader Kamal Hossain.

"We've had bad elections in the past but I must say that it is unprecedented how bad this particular election was," said Hossain.

Bangladesh's Election Commission said it was investigating allegations of vote rigging but rejected demands for another vote.

Source(s): AFP ,Reuters