Low turnout and sporadic violence marked parliamentary elections in Bangladesh today, which were boycotted by the main opposition party.

The turnout was around 40% — compared to over 80% in the 2018 parliamentary elections — Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibul Awal announced at a press conference.

As he said, his agency tried to do its best to guarantee a fair process.

“There have been no reports of deaths from the incidents of election-related violence,” he said, adding that his office was verifying allegations of electoral fraud in some cases.

The electoral divisions in the country with the eighth largest population in the world remained open until 17:00 (local time; at 14:00 Greece), the counting of votes has started and the official results are expected around midnight (21:00).

Today’s parliamentary elections are practically guaranteed to give a fifth term to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who described the official opposition party as a “terrorist organization” as she left the polling station.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the biggest opposition force, stayed away from the proceedings, denouncing the “sham election”, like other factions that have been decimated in recent months by a wave of mass arrests.

The Bangladesh People’s League (AL), the prime minister’s party, has virtually no opponents in the constituencies it is contesting. However, he did not present candidates in some, with the obvious purpose of avoiding a one-party parliament, which will be considered simply an organ of the only party.

Some voters said they had been threatened that their benefits cards would be confiscated if they did not vote for the People’s League.

Police on Saturday arrested seven members of the BNP, including a senior official of its Dhaka branch, on charges of sabotage, following a fire on a suburban train last Friday that left at least four people dead and injured. eight others.

Prime Minister Hasina has repeatedly accused the BNP of being behind deadly fires on the rail network last year.