Bangladesh prime minister extends rule in poll shunned by rivals

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will retain her title as the world’s longest serving female head of government after her party swept more than half of the parliament seats in an election boycotted by her opponents and voters.

Hasina’s Awami League party won at least 157 of 299 seats for a simple majority, according to two major television networks citing polling data. The election for one seat was postponed.

The Election Commission has put the turnout at about 40%, a sharp from 2018’s 80%, as voters heeded a campaign by the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) to shun the election and draw attention to the sweeping crackdown her government carried out in the run-up to the polls.