The electoral circus is nearing its peak in Bangladesh
On Sunday, the 7th of January, elections will be held in Bangladesh. For months, the country has been the scene of mass uprisings, such as the struggles of the garment workers, as well as the anti-government protests in the summer.
Ahead of the elections, protests have unfolded. Between January 3rd and January 6th at least 19 polling stations have been torched, as well as dozens of schools, buses and other public infrastructure. In total, over 303 arson attacks have been recorded in the country since October 28th.
The election is a major moment for the Parties of the ruling classes. During the period from 29th of December to the election day, the army has been deployed to the streets. Any type of political gathering apart from electoral events have been banned from 18th of December. For months, the two main representatives of the different sections of the ruling classes, the ruling Party Awami League (AL) and the main ”opposition” Party Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), have been engaged in a furious struggle, into which they attempt to channel the justified anger of the masses in the country in which the people suffer under the ruthless exploitation of the imperialists, under raging inflation and severe repression of demo-liberal rights. However, the masses have multiple times exceeded the framework of the struggle between the two Parties within the bureaucratic-feudal system. The repression, which for decades has been constant, with thousands becoming the victims of extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances, has increased in the recent months, with arrests made on daily basis. 1,6 million people, half of them ”security personnel” will ”oversee” the elections. They include agents of imperialists, who are there to secure a ”free and fair election”, which has been called for by especially the US many times. In everything, the ”sanctity” of the electoral circus and the forcing of the masses within its limits can be seen.
The US has also imposed sanctions against all who try to ”interfere” with the electoral process. In addition, it has earlier imposed sanctions on the Rapid Action Battalion, an “anti-crime and anti-terrorism” unit of the Bangladesh police, which has committed many extrajudicial killings and torture. The US newspaper The Diplomat displays the concerns of the US imperialism: “China and Russia are aligned in limiting U.S. political influence in Bangladesh”, claiming that the people of Bangladesh are looking to the US for “democracy”. Similarly, Russia has sent observers to Bangladesh and accused the US for interfering in the election.
The BNP has demanded that the elections would be organized by an ”impartial” caretaker-government. Because of this not happening, it is now boycotting the election – but only to demand an election on its terms, most likely just as ”dirty” as the current one, incapable of answering the demands of the people in the semi-feudal and semi-colonial country in which bureaucratic capitalism develops.
