Bangladesh has announced a parliamentary election on January 7, the national election body said today, despite deadly protests by opposition parties who want the Prime Minister to quit and let a caretaker government take over.

At least four people, including a policeman, died and hundreds were hurt in violent protests across the country in the last two weeks.

The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), whose top leaders are either in jail or in exile, has already said it will not take part in the next national election if Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina does not step down and allow a caretaker government, two party leaders told Reuters earlier this month.

They said boycotting the election will make any win for her invalid. The BNP also skipped the 2014 election but joined the 2018 one.

HOW DOES VOTING WORKS IN BANGLADESH?

Voting in Bangladesh is done by a parliamentary system, where the people elect members of the Jatiya Sangsad (national parliament) for five-year terms. The parliament has 350 members, of which 300 are directly elected by the voters in single-member constituencies using the first-past-the-post method. The remaining 50 seats are reserved for women, who are elected by the 300 members based on proportional representation. 

The Prime Minister is the head of the government and is usually the leader of the party or coalition that has the most seats in the parliament. The President is the head of the state and is elected by the parliament, but has mostly ceremonial powers. 

Bangladesh has a two-party system, where the main parties are the Bangladesh Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. They have alternated in power since 1991, when democracy was restored after a series of military coups and martial law. 

The last general election was held in 2018, when the Awami League won 259 seats and the BNP won only seven seats. The election was marred by allegations of violence, intimidation, and rigging by the ruling party. 

The next general election is expected to be held in 2024. The Election Commission has introduced electronic voting machines (EVMs) in some constituencies to reduce the use of paper ballots and prevent fraud. However, some opposition parties have protested against the use of EVMs, claiming that they are vulnerable to manipulation by the government.

The BNP and other opposition groupings have been calling on Hasina to step down and allow the election to be held under a neutral caretaker government – a demand her administration has rejected.

A senior BNP official on Wednesday said the “unilateral declaration” of the election schedule would further fuel tensions in the country.

“We sincerely wish the government would shun this path of violence and coercion of the opposition so that an appropriate congenial environment is created… ensuring peaceful coexistence where people can freely exercise their democratic rights,” Abdul Moyeen Khan, a former minister and member of the BNP’s highest policy-making body, told Reuters.

Analysts say the violence sweeping Bangladesh is unlikely to subside easily.

“We fear an escalation of violence in the coming days to create a pretext for emergency rule in Bangladesh,” said Shakil Ahmed, assistant professor for government and politics at Jahangirnagar University in Dhaka.

“Many lives and property could be lost in this process.”

Hasina, who has maintained tight control since coming to power in 2009, has been accused of authoritarianism, human rights violations, cracking down on free speech and suppressing dissent while jailing her critics.

Her main rival and two-time premier, BNP leader

Khaleda Zia

, is effectively under house arrest for what her party calls trumped-up corruption charges. Her son and BNP’s acting chairman,

Tarique Rahman, is in exile after several charges were brought against him that he denies.

Hasina’s government is under pressure from Western countries to hold “free and fair” elections.

The United States, the top buyer of Bangladeshi garments, said in May it was implementing a policy allowing for the restriction of visas to Bangladeshis who undermine the democratic election process in the country of nearly 170 million people.