Bangladesh parties brace for elections

THE HINDU, 04th JANUARY, 2018- Bangladesh has welcomed 2018 amid fears of political unrest ahead of a crucial general election. Anxiety over a possible return to political instability is growing as the country prepares to elect its 11th Parliament at the end of the year.   Most political observers express the view that the 2018 elections are going to be fiercely contested as opponents of the ruling Awami League-led alliance are likely to use all their strengths to see to that the “secular pro-liberation”

parties don’t return to power. The earlier election, in 2014, was held amid a violent boycott by Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its Islamist allies led by the Jamaat-e-Islami.  One of the early indications of political instability is that the BNP-led alliance of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has started pressing the same demand as earlier.