An autocratic crackdown saw the main opposition party boycott the poll, rendering the victory hollow for the current prime minister<\/p>\n
Sheikh Hasina Wazed<\/a> has brought the best of times and the worst of times to Bangladesh. In her 15 years of consecutive rule as prime minister, extreme poverty<\/a> rates have halved and per-capita GDP<\/a> has grown by more than 300%. This impressive performance has been undermined by the emergence of a one\u2011party state, a process accelerated by anti\u2011government protests<\/a> against escalating prices last year. Human Rights Watch warned<\/a> in November that opposition leaders and supporters were being jailed, and even killed, ahead of the general elections that took place last weekend.<\/p>\n With the main opposition party \u2013 the Bangladesh Nationalist party (BNP) \u2013 boycotting the poll, Sheikh Hasina\u2019s Awami League party swept back into power<\/a>. It was a hollow victory as just four in 10 voters turned out. Democracy lost out at the beginning of the year when 80 nations<\/a> are scheduled to go to the polls. The election was neither free nor fair, as London and Washington<\/a> pointed out. Yet Dhaka has friends in both India and China, which welcomed Sheikh Hasina\u2019s win.<\/p>\n