Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina won an overwhelming majority in Bangladesh's parliamentary elections, giving her party – the Awami League – a fourth consecutive term in office.
After an election campaign Fraught with violence and boycotts From the main opposition party, Ms. Hasina's party was widely reported to have won 216 of the 299 seats.
The win also means the 76-year-old becomes the country's longest-serving leader.
The Election Commission is expected to make a final official announcement regarding the result of the vote on Monday.
Kazi Habib Aul, Chief Election Commissioner, said that about 40% of the total 120 million people eligible for the elections voted.
Polling officials in Bangladesh count votes. Photo: AP
Photo: AP
The main opposition Bangladesh The National Party, led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, refused to accept the election results.
The party accuses Ms. Hasina of turning Bangladesh into a one-party state and muzzling the opposition and civil society.
Competition fuels violence
Hasina and Zia have run the country alternately for many years, and their rivalry has inflamed violence and a polarized political landscape in the country.
Bangladeshi policemen stand guard before the elections. Photo: AP
In the run-up to the election, there have been at least 18 arson attacks, including an attack on a train on Friday night. It resulted in four deaths.
Seven men belonging to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its youth wing have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the train attack.
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Moments after a fire broke out on the train
The party denies any role in the attack.
Opposition leader Zia has been under house arrest for more than two years on corruption charges, which she denies.
Her party claimed that about 20,000 of its members had been imprisoned before the elections, a figure the government disputed.
Khaleda Zia has been under house arrest for more than two years
The government went on to defend the elections, saying that 27 parties and 404 independent candidates participated.
But with dozens of Awami League candidates running as independents, most of them from smaller opposition parties, analysts say Hasina's victory was almost inevitable.
Independent candidates won 52 parliamentary seats, while the Jatiya Party – the third largest party in the country – won 11 seats, according to television stations.
