Pre-election tussle dominates Labor Day rallies in Bangladesh

By Md. Kamruzzaman

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – Simmering tensions between the government and opposition dominated Labor Day rallies in Bangladesh on Monday.

The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) ramped up calls for a caretaker setup to oversee the upcoming general elections, slated for either this December or next January.

Addressing some 100,000 supporters at a massive rally outside the party’s headquarters in central Dhaka, BNP leaders slammed the ruling Awami League for its “fascist” actions, including alleged human rights violations, and corruption.

They called for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government to step down before the elections, saying a caretaker administration was imperative to ensure free and fair elections.

BNP leaders accused the Awami League of trying to impose one-party rule in Bangladesh, vowing to resist any such attempts by Hasina and her government.

They said the manner in which the 2014 and 2018 elections were conducted under Hasina’s administration destroyed the public’s trust in the government, referring to the BNP’s repeated allegations of electoral rigging and manipulation of results.

BNP leaders also slated the government for failing to rein in runaway inflation, saying the rising cost of living and meager minimum wage – currently under $100 a month – has pushed a majority of the country’s nearly 170 million people to the brink of disaster.

Various Awami League leaders refuted the allegations during their own Labor Day events in Dhaka and other cities, urging the opposition to instead focus its energies on preparing for the polls.

Obaidul Quader, the party’s general secretary and Hasina’s minister for road transport and bridges, also reiterated that the Awami League has no plans to hand over power to a caretaker government before the elections.