‘Dummy’ candidates, coerced voting: Inside Bangladesh’s election ‘charade’
Al Jazeera
Amid opposition boycott, ruling party accused of fielding ‘dummies’ and threatening people to show up on voting day.
Dhaka, Bangladesh – Hasanul Islam Ador, an elected representative in a rural area in southern Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district, was taken aback when a group of officials in plain clothes barged into his home last week.
Ador said the officers threatened him, saying he should stop campaigning for Zafar Ahmed, an independent candidate for the national election to be held on Sunday.
Ahmed is a current member of parliament representing Cox’s Bazar for the ruling Awami League (AL) party, led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
When Ahmed failed to secure his party’s nomination for this year’s election, he was asked by the party leadership to run as an independent contender – one of what analysts and critics say are hundreds of so-called “dummy” candidates propped by the party to make the election look free and fair.
Hasina, 76, has been in power for 15 straight years – the longest-serving leader in Bangladesh’s history.
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