The present government has made all arrangements to hold a one-sided election, while completely ignoring public opinion. The Election Commission (EC) is also working at the instruction of the government and assisting it in staging the election. In any election, there must be opponents. But there will be no competing candidates at the January 7 election. Instead, Awami League is pitting dummy candidates against party candidates. As such, there will be no election on January 7. Rather, a drama will be staged. By wasting thousands of crores of taka, the ruling party's only plan is to return to power and to plunder.

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‘Even before the election, there is no question as to who the elected will be.’

This election will push the whole country towards further uncertainty and close the door to constructive politics in Bangladesh. To the ruling party, neither the country and its people nor the economy matters. All that matters to AL is acquiring power. After all, in the last 15 years, all it did was loot, deliver injustice, harass and torture the leaders and activists of opposition parties, and more. The ruling party has committed so many wrongs that it is now afraid to hold a free and fair election, knowing very well that if a proper election is held, the people will reject it and hold AL accountable for its misdeeds.

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A ‘dummy-cratic’ election in democratic Bangladesh?

We have been trying to gather public opinion against the misrule and undemocratic practices of the current government. But the government is not even allowing us to hold an organised protest. If the government cared about public opinion or had respect for it, or if it could understand the language of the public, it would have moved away from the path it has been on.

Maulana Gazi Ataur Rahman is senior joint secretary of Islami Andolan Bangladesh (IAB).

Views expressed in this article are the author's own.

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