DHAKA: Bangladesh’s election campaign entered its final day on Monday (Feb 9) before this week’s vote, with rival parties invoking the 2024 uprising that ended the autocratic rule of Sheikh Hasina.
Tens of thousands of flag-waving supporters attended a succession of rival rallies across the sprawling capital, Dhaka, as parties sought to harness the legacy of the mass uprising and pitch competing visions of change for the country of 170 million in Thursday’s election.
The South Asian nation will elect a 350-seat parliament, with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) -led by Tarique Rahman, who returned in December after 17 years in exile – widely tipped as a frontrunner.
The BNP’s key rival is Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party that is led by Shafiqur Rahman and has allied with the National Citizen Party (NCP) that was formed by student leaders who spearheaded the uprising.
Prime ministerial hopeful Tarique Rahman appeared confident as he bounced on stage to address a crowd of thousands of BNP loyalists who waved flags and the party symbol, a sheaf of rice, and greeted their leader as if at a rock concert.
“The BNP alone has a plan to run the country and the experience to do so,” he said, referring to his late parents, Ziaur Rahman and Khaleda Zia, who both led the nation.
“No other parties have that.”
Rahman, 60, better known in Bangladesh as Tarique Zia, assumed leadership of the BNP from his mother, Khaleda Zia, who died in December at the age of 80.
Police ringed the stage as he spoke and watched from the tops of tower blocks, surveying the crowd.
“JUSTICE”
Hasina was overthrown on Aug 5, 2024, after 15 years in power, and her Awami League party was banned by the interim government from running in the elections, a move criticised by rights groups.
The 78-year-old, known for her iron-fisted rule, was sentenced to death in absentia in November for crimes against humanity for the deadly crackdown on protesters in her failed bid to cling to power and remains in hiding in India.
Jamaat-e-Islami chief Shafiqur Rahman, leading a coalition of Islamist parties ideologically aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood – under the symbol of weighing scales – also headed packed rallies.
“If Jamaat comes to power, extortion and violence will reduce,” said Ashikuzzaman Shaon, a 21-year-old student. “They’ll establish justice.”
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