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Hasina elected Bangladesh PM in heavily-monitored elections

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] The Bangladesh Election Commission (BEC) on Tuesday released results for the country's Monday elections, in which voters elected Sheikh Hasina as prime minister and members of her Bangladesh Awami League party as 228 of the country's 300 parliamentary representatives. The elections, which end two years of military rule in the country, were said to be generally fair and democratic by both domestic and international monitoring groups. In a release  on their observation of the elections, advocacy group International Republican Institute (IRI) praised the results as "accurately the will of Bangladeshi voters," despite some irregularities:The delegation was particularly impressed with the dedication of the millions of Bangladeshi voters who stood patiently in line to exercise their civic rights and to participate in the political process. At the polling stations observed by IRI's teams, the process appeared organized and calm, and election officials were generally knowledgeable about election law. Though observers noted many procedural irregularities they did not believe them of the scope and severity that would call into question the legitimacy of the process or outcome. The US State Department also praised the elections. Despite urging by monitoring groups, members of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, including former prime minister Khaleda Zia, have challenged results from 220 polling stations. A spokesperson for the BEC said it will investigate the allegations of forgery, ballot tampering, and other violations of the country's election laws. Earlier this month, interim Bangladeshi president Iajuddin Ahmed signed the Emergency Powers (Repeal) Ordinance of 2008, lifting a two-year state of emergency to allow for political campaigning. The state of emergency, declared in January 2007, had suspended democratic rights throughout the country. The state of emergency had been briefly lifted in November, but was reinstated following violent protests after Jamaat-e-Islami party leaders were arrested on corruption charges. Elections were originally scheduled for December 18, but were rescheduled after the major political parties demanded more time to campaign.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on December 30, 2008 (boomark / email).