Hasina Not out

In the midst of massive violence and protest Bangladesh successfully conducted its 11th Parliamentary Elections where Sheikh Hasina easily made to her third successive term as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, defeating the opposition in a one sided contest. As the results came out the ruling party, Awami League managed to beg a record 288 seats out of total 298,making itself the strongest government in South Asia. The party also succeeded in winning 80% of the total votes casted on the polling day. The opposition alliance Jatiyo Oikya Front which constituted of Bangladesh National Party (BNP) and Jamaat-E-Islami could managed to get only 7 seats. Other parties succeeded in sending 3 of its members to the parliament. During the elections 2,600 clashes took place between the supporters of ruling Awami League and the opposition alliance where many lost their lives whereas several casualties were recorded.

Bangladesh went through massive violence during the election process.

As soon as the results were declared, the opposition called it out ‘Farcical’ and also raised the demand for the fresh elections. The election commission has already denied with the demand of the opposition, stating the elections were held in a free and fair manner.

With that massive margin of victory, lies a burden of expectations on Hasina’s re-elected Awami League. Economy and employment, were the two Es which brought Hasina back to the seat. It now becomes a crucial responsibility of the government to come up on the faith the people has showed towards them.

A party tends to loose elections on the political concept of Anti-Incumbency which means the voters are not satisfied with the ruling power and tends to vote against them. But this time Hasina managed to sideline this factor easily. As the political scientists says, anti-incumbency takes place when the country is going through the problem of economic crisis and unemployment, but in the case of Bangladesh the ruling elites managed to dodge this concept easily this tenure.

The reason behind the tremendous success of Sheikh Hasina was the prosperity she brought in these last two tenure specially in the field of economy and terrorism. She also managed to chunk out the concept of ‘Fundamentalism’ which had earlier made its deep roots in the oppositions tenure.

GDP Growth of Bangladesh.
Stats by Statista

As per the stats Hasina has proved to be one of the best leaders Bangladesh ever had. During her tenure the country’s growth rate has wet up from 5% in 2008 to a good 7.86% in 2017-18. A good progress can be calculated in the field of agricultural and manufacturing services. Foreign exchange reserves has shown a good hike of 5 times whereas investments and savings has enhanced to 30% of the total GDP. Tremendous growth in per capita income can also be recorded during Hasina’s tenure.

When it comes to social level the country has shown a massive decline in the poverty rate. Earlier 19% of the total population of Bangladesh was living under $1.25 per day but now the number has came down to only 9% in 2018. When it comes to life expectancy, Bangladesh has trashed India with a fine margin of 4% making it to a good 72.49 years, more than the average of South Asia. The country has also presented a good report on infant mortality rate.

While getting a tremendous appreciation from the nation, Hasina has confronted a lot of criticism too. Two massive agitations took place in 2018 of which one was the student led agitation against the reservation policy in the government services and other a public protest demanding road safety. With these two mass protest movements, ‘Freedom of Speech’ could also be seen as a challenge for the local people when a journalist named Shahidul Alam was detained for posting a video on social media criticizing the Hasina’s government on the road safety protest.As it happened in 2017, the supreme court of Bangladesh justice SK Sinha was forced to resign too when he challenged the parliament’s authority to impeach the supreme court judges.

During Hasina’s latest tenure news channels and newspaper agencies too are  facing a lot of challenges in running their business. Channels criticizing Hasina are denied of the interview of the prominent leaders on the regular basis whereas newspaper agencies are not provided with advertisement from telecom companies and MNCs where a downfall in revenue can be seen by a massive 30%.

These all issues do showcase Hasina as an authoritarian leader, but how much effect does it makes on the policies of the country will be a thing to watch in the coming years.

Sheikh Hasina as PM, has brought good fortunes to India and the world. India and Bangladesh shares a healthy relationship as the native countries. Whether it is Durga Pooja, Id or the release of Bahubali, Bangladeshis has shown a massive respect and interest in India. India has always stood by Hasina’s side where Prime Minister Modi and West Bengal CM, Mamta Banerjee were the first ones to congratulate Hasina on her third successive victory. The begum successfully handles the anti-Indian activities which were going in the subcontinent since 2001. She also took harsh actions on the naxal and other terrorist activities, thus proving a good leader on the national and global platform.

During these years Bangladesh has made a lot of progress and a lot is still to be made. How Sheikh Hasina begins her new tenure and would she be able to replay the same shots as before will be a thing to observe in the coming years.