Parliamentary election and electoral violence in Bangladesh: the way forward

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to examine the 10th national election held on 5 January 2014, and the violent incidents took place during, before and after the election in Bangladesh. Violence-free competitive, fair and credible national election is a prioritized issue in the politics and governance discourse in Bangladesh now. In this paper, relevant literature has been reviewed first for conceptual understanding, Then, the paper investigates to explore the causes and outcomes of violence took place centering the 10th parliamentary election in Bangladesh. Finally, it prescribes possible ways forward to overcome this crisis. Design/methodology/approach The paper is descriptive and qualitative in nature and based on secondary sources of materials. As it focused on a particular country and issue relating to the electoral violence of a particular national election in Bangladesh, it is a case study too. Most of the information and data have been used from published documents like journal articles, books and newspaper reports. Relevant information collected also from online sources. Findings The electoral violence may happen for various causes, yet the significant cause is the motive of the incumbent for picking up power over and again. Similarly, lack of cooperation of political parties, negligence and domination of ruling parties over opposition are also responsible for electoral and political violence before, during and after the election. In addition, violation of human rights, rule of law and, finally, the poor governance of Bangladesh are because of the lack of meaningful democratic government, strong political will and consensus among all political parties. Research limitations/implications The main limitation of this research is the lack of financial supports to collect empirical data from concerned stakeholders through field visit. Practical implications The paper deals with an urgent issue of Bangladesh which is essential for a free, fair and credible election. To make the EC an independent institute, a law should be enacted for recruitment of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and other commissioners of EC as per Article 118(1) of Bangladesh Constitution. To find out neutral and impartial CEC and other members of EC, a search committee is very essential, and for constituting a search committee, a law also should be enacted by the Parliament. Therefore, it would be very helpful for electoral and legal reform to overcome the problem of electoral violence in Bangladesh. Social implications The findings of this paper will be accepted by the readers, scholars and policymakers. A radical change will come to the politics and governance of Bangladesh. Thus, the paper would be beneficial for the society and community people as well as citizens of Bangladesh. Originality/value The paper would be helpful for policymakers to revamp the existing drawback of electoral policies and practice in Bangladesh. For a meaningful and effective Parliament, it would be necessary. The paper would be essential for the future scholars and researchers of this area to use as reference. Finally, the academicians and readers will find their food in the field of politics, administration and governance.

Present Scenario of Human Rights Violation in Bangladesh

“…The tenth national parliamentary election in Bangladesh held on January 5, 2014, was just a drama of the ruling party Awami League as the opposition allied force boycotted, and 153 parliament members out of 300 were elected without any vote. Political violence occurred before, during, and after the 10th national election in Bangladesh due to a lack of meaningful democratic government, political goodwill, negligence, and domination of ruling parties over the opposition (Mollah & Jahan, 2018). The most recent, the 11th, national election in Bangladesh held in 2018 was also controversial.…”

The Social Violence and Regime Changes in Indonesia

“…The close relationship between political violence and power is reflected on the incidents of political violence in Veracruz, Mexico (Guevara, 2018) and Bangladesh (Mollah & Jahan, 2018), where political violence has been used to defend the regime. Political violence is also used in taking power through general elections as happened in Rakhine State, Myanmar (Burke, 2016).…”

Digital Media in Electoral Participation: A Study of Bangladesh Election 2018

“…It is to mention that in 2014, the then ruling party AL snatched the victory through almost an uncontested election while the main opposition party Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) boycotted the election (Bhattacharjee, 2014). The voter turnout was only 36 per cent according to the Bangladesh Election Commission (Mollah & Jahan, 2018). Such episodes left a room for doubts amid international as well as Bangladesh population.…”