The U.S. expressed disappointment with Bangladesh’s political leaders and joined the European Union in declining to send observers for next month’s election amid growing violence in Asia’s fifth-most populous country.
With more than half of the seats in the parliamentary election on Jan. 5 uncontested, Bangladesh’s main political parties should redouble efforts to find a peaceful way to settle their disputes, Jen Psaki, a State Department spokeswoman, said in a statement yesterday. The move by the U.S. follows a decision by the European Union last week to refrain from sending observers until conditions allow for a transparent, inclusive and credible election.
“The people of Bangladesh deserve the opportunity to elect their national representatives in a climate free of violence and intimidation,” Psaki said. “The nation’s political leadership -– and those who aspire to lead -– must ensure law and order.”
Escalating violence in Bangladesh threatens to derail a democracy marred by frequent military interventions and harm an economy that has grown by about 6 percent a year on average since 2008. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed’s refusal to stand aside for a caretaker administration to oversee Jan. 5 elections has added to tensions with opponents already inflamed over recent convictions in a war crimes tribunal.
More than 100 people have been killed and hundreds more injured over the last two months in violence tied to the elections and the war crimes tribunal, Human Rights Watch said in a report last week. Security forces stepped up operations against the opposition earlier this month, the New York-based advocacy group said.
‘Vicious Cycle’
“Security forces and opposition militants are engaged in a vicious cycle of attacks that are leading to death, destruction and fear,” Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in the report.
Opposition parties, led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, are boycotting the elections over Hasina’s decision to abandon the past practice of allowing a caretaker administration to oversee the vote. They allege that Hasina is staying in power to disrupt their activities.
The boycott allowed Hasina’s Awami League to win 127 of 154 uncontested seats out of the 300 up for grabs, Bangladesh’s election commission announced earlier this month. Elections in the remaining 146 constituencies will be held at the beginning of January.
Bangladesh has seen three coups and two dozen smaller rebellions since the nation gained independence from Pakistan in 1971 in a war that left millions dead. Last year Bangladesh’s army announced that it foiled an attempt by former and serving officers to oust Hasina.
Earlier this month, Bangladesh put to death a top leader of an Islamic party aligned with the opposition BNP for war crimes that took place four decades ago, the first execution stemming from a tribunal established in 2009. A year earlier, Hasina’s ruling party had campaigned to set up the tribunal in winning the last election.
Source: Bloomberg
