Sheikh Hasina has secured her fifth term as Bangladeshi prime minister in an election whose outcome was decided the moment its schedule was announced in early November when the main opposition boycotted the poll.
The surprise was who came second.
Instead of any political party, independent candidates secured a total of 63 seats, the second highest after Hasina’s Awami League (AL), which won 222, creating a problem of finding a parliamentary opposition.
The current opposition, the Jatiya Party, managed to secure just 11 of the 300 parliamentary seats, according to the Elections Commission.
Almost all the winning independent contenders were people who had been rejected by the AL but were asked by the party leadership to stand as “dummy candidates” to give the election a competitive veneer in front of the world.
“This is a bizarre outcome of a bizarre election,” Shahidul Alam, a renowned Bangladeshi rights activist and photographer, told Al Jazeera. “Dummy candidates in a dummy election will now lead to a dummy parliament.”
Shunned by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) – the AL’s main political opponent – which wanted the balloting held under a neutral entity instead of Hasina’s administration, Sunday’s “one-sided election” was just a “mere formality” to put Hasina back in power again, analysts say.
The only suspense, they added, was voter turnout, after Western governments put pressure on Hasina’s government to ensure a free, fair and participatory poll.
After polling closed at 4pm (10:00 GMT on Sunday), the Election Commission (EC) said turnout was 40 percent. But many were doubtful it was even that high. “I don’t know about the rest of the country but I think I have not seen such an empty Dhaka in years,” Abdullah Yusuf, an engineer in the Dhanmondi area of the capital, told Al Jazeera. “It felt like the initial COVID days. I crossed two polling centres midday and didn’t see many people besides Awami League activists who were wearing badges. EC’s claim of 40 percent is quite absurd.”
Some analysts, meanwhile, pointed to confusion at the EC announcement. “It’s hard to believe the turnout was 40 percent, especially given the fact that the chief election commissioner himself uttered 28 percent first while briefing the media and then changed it to 40 percent all of a sudden,” said Sakhawat Hossain, a former election commissioner.
The turnout figure, which was shown on the dashboard at the EC headquarters hours after the briefing, was 28 percent, and a photo of it was widely circulated in the country’s social media and received criticism. Al Jazeera checked and verified that figure. EC earlier declared at an hour before the poll closing that the turnout was about 27 percent. Al Jazeera visited at least 10 polling stations across the capital Dhaka in the last hour and did not see any voters.
Sharmin Murshid, the head of the reputed election observer organisation Brotee, told Al Jazeera that a jump from 27 to 40 in a span of an hour or so was “ridiculous” and had “tainted the EC reputation severely”. “It was a sure way to further lose the confidence of the people and credibility which it did not have to start with,” she said. “This was not an election, rather it was an exercise in casting votes by one party for one party,” she added.
Activists from Bangladesh’s opposition called a “hartal”, or strike, over the election weekend (Aljazeera)
BNP leaders, meanwhile, termed even 28 percent very high, saying that most of the polling booths across the country had been empty throughout the day. The opposition party earlier declared a 48 hour ‘hartal’, equivalent to a total strike, from Saturday morning, which it believed also reduced turnout.
“In most pictures and footage shared in media and social platforms, you would find photos of dogs standing, lying down and basking in the sun along with police and a few Awami League activists,” said Abdul Moyeen Khan, a senior BNP leader, while briefing journalists after the election, “But no voters.”
Khan said people had heeded their call to boycott ballots and show a “red card” to the election. “Even Awami League supporters didn’t bother to go to booths to cast their votes because they knew their candidates would win anyway,” he added.
Concerns on legitimacy
AL leaders, however, said the BNP’s plan to foil the election through “hartal” and “arson attacks” had not paid off because people did turn out to vote.
“This is a victory for our democracy,” Obaidul Quader told the media after finding a clear lead in poll results, “People give BNP’s terrorism befitting reply through balloting.”
Quader also said most people voted for their preferred candidates without any intimidation or interference in voting. “This was one of the most peaceful elections of the country,” he said.
While the last two national elections were tainted with dozens of deaths and severe violence, Sunday’s poll saw only one death and very few clashes, making it one of the most peaceful polls in the South Asian nation’s history.
“People of your country should be proud of holding such a peaceful election,” Hisham Kuhail, the CEO of the Central Election Commission of Palestine, one of several foreign observers of the poll, told a media briefing afterwards.
Election officials at Armanitola Government High School in Dhaka wait for voters (Aljazeera)
Kuhail, however, avoided questions about voter turnout and said he was assessing only the technicalities of the voting process – whether voters were allowed access and whether voting took place systematically. “I cannot comment on the political scenario here. For that I need to stay at least a month,” he added.
Russian observer Andrei Shutov also said the voting process was systematic and peaceful. “This election is legitimate,” he added.
AKM Wahiduzzaman, the information and technology affairs secretary of the BNP, said there was no question it was peaceful because “there were no voters”. “But it is obviously not legitimate,” he said. The Awami League’s victory, he added, was “illegal and illegitimate” because people did not “legitimise them through votes”.
Prime Minister Dr Harini Amarasooriya in her Environment Day message said that the environment is the foundation of our livelihood and called upon all Sri Lankans to come forward with the responsibility in mind to bequeath a secure a secure, prosperous and green planet to future generations.The PM’s Environment Day message:
“The environment is the foundation of our livelihood. It is the responsibility of the government to bequeath a secure, prosperous, and green planet to future generations.
In line with the global theme, “Urgent Climate Action,” and guided by the vision of “A Sustainable Biosphere – An Evergreen Life,” Sri Lanka commemorates World Environment Day this year at a critical moment. Drawing lessons from the climate-related challenges we have recently experienced, special attention has been directed toward protecting the water catchment areas of the central highlands and restoring ecosystems.
Under the theme “Dalulanna Idadenna” ( Let it Bloom), the Ministry of Environment has organized a series of programmes across the island to mark World Environment Day. These initiatives include environmental conservation inspired by religious values, awareness programmes on climate change, the protection of the Diyawanna Oya, the development of infrastructure in the wildlife sector, the conservation of water resources, and the promotion of medicinal plant cultivation, and through these efforts, it is evident that environmental conservation has evolved beyond a mere concept and become a practical and active commitment.
At this significant moment in our nation’s history, as more than 63,000 hectares of forest land have been gazetted as protected reserves through the “Wanaspathi” National Programme, which was launched last year, every citizen must resolve to live in harmony with the environment.
Astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) were ordered to shelter in an attached spacecraft after the structure suddenly started leaking more air.
Five of the seven crew were directed to go into the docked SpaceX shuttle Dragon “Freedom” on Friday afternoon and were braced for a potential evacuation.
Meanwhile, two remaining personnel – a pair of Russian cosmonauts – attempted to repair a part of the Russian segment of the ISS, where the leaks had started increasing on Monday.
The repairs were paused and the crew ordered back onto the ISS by Nasa on Friday afternoon.
Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Sophie Adenot and Andrey Fedyaev, who arrived on the ISS in February, had been sheltering on the docked ship, along with another astronaut Chris Williams.
They had been told to put on their spacesuits so they were ready to undock and return to Earth at short notice.
The Dragon effectively functions as a lifeboat – attached to the station but ready to detach the moment the order is given.
The trigger for the order was a worsening air leak in the transfer tunnel, known as PrK, leading to a section of the Russian segment of the station called the Zvezda service module.
Russian cosmonauts, station commander Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and flight engineer Sergei Mikaev, attempted to fix the problem. Their escape route was the separately docked Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft.
It is not the first time the station has had to deal with this problem – the cracks responsible have persisted on and off for around six years.
However, following the arrival of a Russian cargo ship last month, the Russian space agency Roscosmos noticed a fresh slow pressure drop in the tunnel, prompting the decision to move beyond patchwork fixes and attempt a more extensive repair operation on Friday.
(Left to right) Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, Nasa astronauts Jack Hathaway, Jessica Meir and ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot [BBC]
But it was the method they were planning to use that prompted the order to take shelter, according to news agency Reuters.
Kud-Sverchkov and Mikayev were said to be using a saw to try and get into an area to access the crack that was leaking air.
Nasa disagreed with the method they were using and mission control in Houston ordered five crew to take “safe-haven” procedures on the Dragon ship.
When Roscosmos told their crew to pause repairs, Nasa instructed the astronauts to return to the station.
Nasa spokeswoman Bethany Stevens said on X: “Given this development, Nasa has instructed the crew members inside the Dragon spacecraft to end the safe haven procedures and return to planned operations aboard the International Space Station.”
Russian news agency Tass, citing Roscosmos, reported that nothing had been threatening the safety of the crew or the ISS’s onboard systems.
The ISS, which spans the length of a football field, is the largest human-made object in space.
It has been continuously operated by a US-Russian-led consortium that includes Canada, Japan and 11 European countries since 1998.
Maja Chwalinska lost in the Wimbledon second round (2022) and Australian Open first round (2025) in her only two previous Grand Slam appearances (BBC)
Qualifier Maja Chwalinska is one win away from a fairytale French Open triumph after setting up a final showdown with Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva.
The Polish world number 114, who had only ever won one match at a Grand Slam before this tournament, continued her astonishing run at Roland Garros by beating 25th seed Diana Shnaider 7-6 (7-4) 6-4.
Three weeks and nine matches after her French Open campaign began, Chwalinska dropped to the ground after firing in the 32nd and final winner of another scintillating display.
With that, she became the first qualifier in history to reach the women’s singles final at Roland Garros, and the crowd chanted her name as she spoke in her post-match interview.
On Saturday, she will attempt to become only the second qualifier in the Open era to win a Grand Slam after Britain’s Emma Raducannu at the 2021 US Open.
It would be a fitting conclusion to a French Open filled with spectacular shocks from the outset.
But, on the evidence of her dominant victory over Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk, the in-form Andreeva will provide the sternest test of her credentials to date.
A beaten semi-finalist in 2024, the 19-year-old was hugely impressive in a 6-1 6-3 victory that made her the third-youngest woman to reach the Roland Garros showpiece this century, after Coco Gauff and Kim Clijsters.
Should she prevail in her first major final, eighth seed Andreeva would become the third-youngest first-time Grand Slam champion this century, after Maria Sharapova and Raducanu.
