Vote today, the outcome long known
As the nation goes to polls today for a third straight time under Sheikh Hasina-led government, the outcome is already a foregone conclusion. The 12th parliamentary election will go down in history as a race between Awami League candidates and Awami League "independents".
The 2014 national election, the first polls under the AL government since it took office in 2009, is widely known as a "voter-less election". The second, in 2018, has been etched in the nation's collective memory as a "night-time election", although the ruling party disputes the claim.
The opposition BNP, which bagged 30-35 percent votes in the past elections that were deemed fair, is boycotting today's polls, like it did in 2014.
BNP, whose thousands of leaders have been imprisoned allegedly on trumped-up charges over the last two months, maintains no election can be free and fair under the AL government.
Fifteen other political parties are also boycotting the election that is being watched globally.
Main opposition in parliament Jatiyo Party, formed by military dictator HM Ershad and now led by his brother GM Quader after the autocrat's demise, remains in the race after much drama.
But at least 225 of the 265 candidates it fielded have pulled themselves out, mostly unofficially, terming the race "one-sided and staged".
BNP enforces a nationwide hartal today, and has called upon voters to shun the election to mark the beginning of an end of what it calls a "fascist government."
"The election in 2014 was voter-less while many centres saw night-time voting in the 2018 election.
The boycott and pull-out as well as fear of violence means a large number of voters will take little interest in voting, which starts at 8:00am and ends at 4:00pm without a break.
"What's the point of going to the polling centres when the election is nothing but a battle between two groups of the same party. We all know Awami League will win the race at the end of the day," said Md Monir Hassan, a resident of Dhanmondi.
"As I went to the polling station in 2018, I found my vote had already been cast. Who will guarantee us that it will not repeat?" he asked.
The Daily Star could not independently verify his claim.
But Monir also fears violence.
On Friday night, at least four people were killed and many others injured as arsonists set a running train on fire in Dhaka. Including them, nine people have lost their lives in eight incidents of arson on trains since November 16.
Additionally, at least five people were killed in clashes and attacks on rival rallies since the official start of the election campaigns on December 18.
Meanwhile, the ruling party has done everything it could to make the election look participatory and competitive. It allowed party leaders to join the polls in droves as "independent" candidates. As a result, in every seat, two or more AL candidates are pitted against each other.
In a never-before-seen tactic, the AL also instructed its grassroots to support aspirants from other little-known parties that were formed recently, allegedly with government blessings.
The AL also formed dedicated teams across the country to bring as many voters as possible to the polling centres to ensure high turnout in efforts to garner international support.
"Come to the polling centres without fear and cast your vote to exercise your constitutional rights. Don't bow down to any intervention and intimidation," AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader told a press conference in his Noakhali-5 constituency yesterday.
In a televised address to the nation, Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal also called upon the voters to cast their ballots, saying they are ready to hold the polls in a way that will be accepted at home and abroad.
"The election will be free and fair and voters will get a chance to exercise their voting rights freely," he said.
As many as 11.93 crore people are eligible to vote.
More than 7.5 lakh members of law enforcement agencies and security forces have been deployed to ensure law and order during the polls.
Today's election comes amid pressure from the US and some other Western nations, calling for a free and fair election.
In September last year, the US announced sanctions on some individuals for undermining the voting process, and warned of imposing further sanctions on the same grounds.
Former Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) Sakhawat Hussain termed today's polls a unique one compared to the previous two elections.
"The election in 2014 was voter-less while many centres saw night-time voting in the 2018 election.
"But this time, the election is taking place between candidates from the same party in the name of independents and dummies. As a result, voters are less interested about the polls," said Sakhawat.
He also said some parties that joined the race are not well-known, while some are facing existential crisis.
"So, it is a unique model election … Results of the election is certain, everybody knows who is going to win. The only thing that is uncertain is who will be in the opposition bench," he added.
Over the last one year, BNP had gathered some momentum to intensify its movement to unseat the government through peaceful programmes.
But it all went out of their hand on October 28, when its Dhaka rally was foiled in the face of heavy police action following clashes between BNP and AL activists.
Ever since, the government launched a countrywide crackdown on opposition leaders and supporters.
Since October, more than 27,000 BNP leaders and activists have been rounded up across the country, according to BNP data, which The Daily Star could not verify.
Dozens of them are top leaders, including its Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
In the 24 hours preceding last evening alone, at least 255 party leaders and activists were detained and 16 cases were filed against 1,355 named and many unidentified people, BNP said.
Additionally, at least 1,700 BNP leaders and activists have been sentenced to prison over the last two months in political cases filed over a decade ago.
At a virtual press conference yesterday, BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi called on "every democratic voter" to boycott the election.
"As a citizen of the state who has been deprived of the rights for the last 15 years, boycott them [the government] at least for one day, on January 7.
"Believe it, your decision on this one day will lead to the fall of the fascist government in Bangladesh," said Rizvi.
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