Author: Manveena Suri / Source: CNN
(CNN)At least 15 people were killed in election-related clashes in Bangladesh on Sunday, local police officials told CNN.
Bangladeshis were voting on whether to give Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina a third consecutive term in an election marred by allegations of human rights abuses by her government.
The military was deployed across the country to try to prevent the violence seen during recent polls, which were tarnished by a low turnout and boycotted by the largest opposition group and its allies.
The Bangladesh Awami League, led by 71-year-old Hasina, has been in power since 2009 and won the last election in January 2014 with a resounding majority amid a boycott. But Hasina has since been accused of authoritarianism and harassment of the media and opposition figures, even as she presides over strong economic growth.
Human rights groups and opposition figures had warned that Sunday’s election could be rigged despite promises of transparency from the authorities.
Salil Tripathi, a London-based journalist and author of “The Colonel Who Would Not Repent: The Bangladesh War and Its Unquiet Legacy,” said the government has delayed visas for election observer groups such as the Asian Network for Free Elections (Anfrel) despite its promises of openness.
“The question is whether there will be observers on the ground in time to see what’s going on,” Tripathi told CNN. “You want elections that are free and fair, and Bangladesh is missing this as an opportunity. If you don’t allow the observers to come, how will you prove this?
”In a report last week, Human Rights Watch said a “repressive political environment in Bangladesh is undermining the credibility of the process.”
“Authoritarian measures, including widespread surveillance and a crackdown on free speech, have contributed to a widely described climate…
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