(7 Jan 2024)
RESTRICTIONS SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Dhaka - 7 January 2024
1. Various of different political parties marching with banner and chanting in front of press club
2. SOUNDBITE (Bangla) Saiful Haque, General Secretary of Revolutionary Workers' Party of Bangladesh (Bangladesher Biplobi Workers' Party):
“The government has put an opposition party outside of the election. And they started a process to legitimise their illegal regime. People don’t regard this as an election. That’s why people rejected and boycotted the election and expressed a mass distrust of the government.”
3. Wide of ruling party supporters waiting in front of polling centre
4. People walking towards polling centre
5. Various of people casting their votes
6. SOUNDBITE (Bangla) Badshah Mia, rikshaw puller:
"I will not cast my vote in this election. There is no atmosphere for a fair election here. There is neither a candidate from the opposition party nor any candidate of my choosing here. That’s why I will not vote for this government. We are poor people who live from hand to mouth. We don’t like this government.”
7. Various of female voters casting their votes
8. SOUNDBITE (Bangla) Sakibul Hasan Chowdhury, businessman:
“There is no opposition and no candidate of my choice. So how would I benefit from voting? Therefore, there is no question of voting. Besides, I saw many empty polling centres and no crowd was there. Voting is a democratic right of the people. Since that right has been diminished here, how can I participate?”
9. People entering polling centre
10. Affan Bin Imran, first-time voter, with his father, inside polling centre to cast their vote
11. Various of Imran showing thumb marked with ink
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Affan Bin Imran, student:
“It’s mandatory for every citizen in our country to cast their votes. As a citizen of this country, I'm actually very proud and feel really exited and fantastic to be able to cast my vote for the first time.”
13. Various of voters and ruling party supporters in front of polling centre
STORYLINE:
Voters in Bangladesh cast their ballots on Sunday as polls opened in a parliamentary election fraught with violence and a boycott from the main opposition party, paving the way for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League to seize a fourth consecutive term.
Campaigning in the South Asian nation of 169 million has been marred with violence as at least 15 people have been killed in recent months.
Hostilities reached a boiling point in late October after a massive rally in Dhaka by the BNP saw clashes with police.
As the election neared, authorities blamed much of the violence on the BNP, who they accused of seeking to sabotage the election.
The vote, like previous elections, has been defined by the bitter rivalry between Hasina’s Awami League and BNP, led by former Premier Khaleda Zia, who is ailing and under house arrest on corruption charges, which her supporters claim are politically motivated.
The two women ran the country alternatively for many years, cementing a feud that has since polarized the country’s politics and fuelled violence around elections.
This year’s vote raised questions over the credibility of the polls when there are no major challengers to take on the incumbent.
Nearly halfway into voting hours, the turnout was 18.5%, according to the Election Commission Secretary Jahangir Alam.
Badshah Mia, 55, a rickshaw puller in Dhaka told The Associated Press that he wouldn't vote, given the limited choices, adding that the atmosphere didn’t exude that of "a fair election".
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