Violence overshadows parliamentary elections in Bangladesh 27 guests rescued from the balconies of a burning hotel in Tyrol

About thirty incidents of violence marred the parliamentary elections in Bangladesh on Sunday. Police have arrested at least seven troublemakers in this regard, a spokesperson for the Election Commission said. The largest opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), boycotted the elections because it believed they were not fair.

Supporters of an independent candidate stabbed a supporter of autocratic Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ruling Awami League party during a dispute in a district near the capital Dhaka, the election commission said. And according to police reports, two homemade bombs exploded near a polling station in Dhaka, injuring four people.

In the southeastern Chattogram constituency, a candidate, Mustafizur Rahman Chowdhury, threatened police officers with cutting off their hands if they did not follow his instructions, the election commission said. This caused chaos at a polling station. And in Tangail, some people stole ballot boxes and set them on fire, prompting police to fire. Two people were injured and the polling station in question was closed.

Overall, only about 40 percent of the South Asian country’s roughly 120 million eligible voters cast their ballots, election commission chief Kazi Rakibul Awal said. In the last elections in 2018, the turnout was more than 80 percent. The results are expected on Monday. Observers expect 76-year-old Prime Minister Hasina to win a fourth consecutive term and a fifth term overall. (sda/dpa)