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Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina secures fourth straight term as expected
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina swept to a fourth straight term as expected with her party winning an absolute majority in the general election, the poll body said on Monday, amid low turnout in the vote boycotted by the main opposition.
The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), who participated in the 2018 vote but kept away in 2014, boycotted the polls after Hasina refused their demands to resign and allow a neutral authority to run the general election.
The daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, founding father of Bangladesh who was killed in an army coup in 1975 along with most members of the family, Hasina, 76, first became prime minister in 1996. This will be her fifth term overall.
In her past 15 years in power she has been credited with turning around the economy and the massive garments industry, while winning international praise for sheltering Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in neighbouring Myanmar.
Bangladeshis largely stayed away from Sunday’s election, which was marred by violence. Turnout was about 40% when polls closed, said Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal, compared with over 80% in the last election in 2018.
The ruling Awami League party won 167 seats out of 227 seats with the outcome of the rest of the seats still to be announced, according to unofficial results released by the Election Commission.
Hasina herself bagged 249,962 votes from her constituency Gopalganj, about 165 kilometres (103 miles) south of the capital Dhaka, while her nearest rival secured just 469 votes.
Rights groups warned of a virtual one-party rule by Hasina’s Awami League in the South Asian country of 170 million people while the United States and Western nations, key customers of Bangladesh’s garment industry, had called for a free and fair election, the 12th since independence from Pakistan in 1971.
“I am trying my best to ensure that democracy should continue in this country,” Hasina said on Sunday after casting her vote, adding that her only accountability was to citizens of Bangladesh.
She has instructed party leaders and supporters not to bring out any victory processions or indulge in celebrations, said Awami League’s general secretary Obaidul Quader.
Polls were held for 299 directly elected parliamentary seats with close to 120 million voters eligible to choose from nearly 2,000 contestants. Election to one seat will be held at a later date after an independent contestant died ahead of the vote due to natural causes.
Among the ruling party winners were actor Ferdous Ahmed and former Bangladesh cricket captains Shakib Al Hasan and Mashrafe Mortaza.
Independent candidates, many of them Awami League party members of various ranks, won 49 seats.
The BNP has accused the ruling party of propping up ‘dummy’ independent candidates to try to make the election look credible, a claim the Awami League has denied.
The BNP called a two-day strike nationwide through Sunday, asking people to shun the election, and said the low turnout was a success for their boycott call.
Hasina has accused the opposition of instigating anti-government protests that have rocked Dhaka since late October and killed at least 14 people.
At least four people were killed on Friday in a passenger train fire that the government called arson. Several polling booths, schools and a Buddhist monastery were also set ablaze days before the poll.
Critics accuse Hasina of authoritarianism, human rights violations, crackdowns on free speech and suppression of dissent.
The economy has also slowed sharply since the Russia-Ukraine war pushed up prices of fuel and food imports, forcing Bangladesh to turn last year to the International Monetary Fund for a $4.7 billion bailout.
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) has forecasted that the ongoing mild to moderate heat wave affecting six regions of the country will persist for the next 24 hours from 9 am today.
The heat wave is currently sweeping over the Rangpur, Mymensingh, and Sylhet divisions, as well as the districts of Tangail, Kishoreganj, and Naogaon. According to the BMD, this weather pattern is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.
In addition to the heat wave, light to moderate rain or thundershowers accompanied by temporary gusty winds are likely to occur in parts of the Khulna, Barishal, and Chattogram divisions. Isolated showers may also affect a few areas in Rangpur, Rajshahi, Dhaka, Mymensingh, and Sylhet divisions, with moderately heavy rainfall expected in some locations across the country.
Despite these weather conditions, the BMD noted that daytime and nighttime temperatures are expected to remain largely unchanged across Bangladesh.
On Wednesday, the highest temperature in the country was recorded at 37.5 degrees Celsius in Rangpur of Rangpur division, while today’s minimum temperature was 24.0 degrees Celsius, observed in Rangamati and Feni districts of Chattogram division.
Meanwhile, rainfall recorded over the last 24 hours, up until 6 am today, measured 54 mm in Sandwip of the Chattogram division.
In Dhaka, the sun is set to set at 5:58 pm today and will rise again at 5:47 am tomorrow.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has filed 17 cases against Beximco Group’s Vice-Chairman, Salman F Rahman, and 27 others, accusing them of laundering approximately Tk1,000 crore ($83 million) under the guise of export trade. This development was confirmed by Additional Superintendent of Police Azad Rahman through a notification on 18 September.
The investigation, conducted under the Money Laundering Prevention Act, found that Salman F Rahman and his brother, ASF Rahman, who serves as the Chairman of Beximco Group, were involved in laundering around Tk1,000 crore. This was done through the export of goods linked to 93 Letters of Credit (LCs) from Janata Bank PLC between 2021 and 2024. However, the proceeds from these exports were not repatriated to Bangladesh.
The CID revealed that the accused individuals, through an organised operation involving their affiliated companies, exported goods with the malicious intent of transferring money abroad. The probe indicated that they deliberately failed to return the export proceeds, violating multiple sections of the Money Laundering Prevention Act.
According to the CID, Salman F Rahman and his associates used their influence and collaborated with an organised criminal group to launder money. This resulted in 17 cases being filed by the CID’s financial crime unit at Motijheel Police Station.
Salman F Rahman, who has long been a prominent figure during Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule, is now facing an in-depth investigation by the CID’s financial crime unit. The investigation focuses on significant allegations of money laundering and financial misconduct, as highlighted in a preliminary report from the CID on 1 September.
Salman is also accused of laundering Tk33,470 crore abroad, allegedly obtained through loans from seven banks over the past 15 years. Of this, Tk21,681 crore was borrowed from state-owned Janata Bank, while Tk5,281 crore came from IFIC Bank, where Salman previously served as chairman.
In addition to these allegations, Salman is believed to have profited Tk6,600 crore through manipulation of the capital market and is accused of failing to repatriate Tk1,485 crore from export proceeds.
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) has predicted light to moderate rain or thundershowers, accompanied by temporary gusty winds, in all eight divisions of the country over the next 24 hours, starting from 9 AM today.
According to the BMD forecast, Chattogram and Sylhet divisions are likely to experience light to moderate rain or thundershowers, while Dhaka and Barishal divisions may see similar weather at a few locations. In Rajshahi, Rangpur, Mymensingh, and Khulna divisions, rainfall is expected in one or two places, with some areas potentially experiencing moderately heavy showers.
The BMD also stated that both day and night temperatures might rise slightly across the country.
On Tuesday, the highest temperature was recorded at 36.5 degrees Celsius in Rajarhat, Rangpur division, while today’s lowest temperature was 24.6 degrees Celsius in Tetulia, also in Rangpur.
In the last 24 hours up to 6 AM today, Cumilla in the Chattogram division recorded 3 mm of rainfall.
The sun is expected to set at 5:58 PM today and rise at 5:46 AM tomorrow in Dhaka.
