The central committee of the Workers Party of Bangladesh (WPB) has decided to withdraw from the upcoming national elections, scheduled to be held in February, in a statement issued on Monday, December 29.
The party cited the deteriorating law and order in the country and the absence of a level playing field as the main reasons for its decision to not participate in the elections.
The left-wing party also alleged growing political persecution in the country and the failure of the interim government to stop targeted violence against political activists as reasons for its withdrawal from the elections.
Nominations for the 13th national elections in Bangladesh, scheduled to be held on February 12, were being filed last week. This would be the first national elections after large-scale protests forced the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government to resign in August 2024.
The statement says the WPB strongly believes that a free and fair election with a level playing field for all political formations was a necessary requirement for taking the country out of its deep political crisis. However, it is convinced that the interim government and the Electoral Commission (EC) have failed to create a conducive atmosphere for the same.
The WPB claimed that the EC of the country has lost its neutrality under political pressure and has failed to include several parties, including the WPB, in the process of preparing the national elections.
The party cited how, despite being a registered party, it was never invited for consultations during the entire process of deciding elections. The Bangladesh EC also failed to involve the WPB and other like-minded parties in any form of dialogue to address their concerns and grievances regarding the political atmosphere in the country.
The WPB claimed that a 10-point proposal presented to the EC regarding elections was completely ignored.
Political persecution and deteriorating law and order
The WPB cited how, ever since the announcement of the elections, the attacks on opposition parties and candidates have increased in the country, along with a growth in religious extremism, which threatens the country’s secular and democratic polity.
Read more: Bangladesh’s liberation under siege
The country has seen widespread violence against religious minorities, newspaper offices and reporters, cultural organizations such as Chhayanaut and Udichi, as well as symbols of Bangladesh’s secular nationalism, such as the monuments related to the national liberation movement.
WPB also alleges widespread political persecution.
Awami League, the party which was in power for the last two decades, was banned from participating in the elections. Its leader and former prime minister Sheikh Hasina has been sentenced to death in absentia earlier this year for her alleged role in killings during anti-quota agitation in 2024, which led to her removal from power.
Hundreds of political opponents have been arrested, including the president of the WPB, Rashed Khan Menon, who has been imprisoned for over a year. The houses and offices of the Awami League and parties allied with it in the past have been attacked and burnt by the mobs.
Several other top leaders of the WPB, such as its general secretary Fazle Hossain Badshah, are also facing what it calls “false cases”.
The WPB central office and several other offices of affiliated groups have also been attacked repeatedly. A mob has also occupied the WPB central office in Dhaka since November 13.
The election commission, the police, army, and the court have failed to take any action against the attacks on the party offices and their illegal occupation, despite repeated petitions to them, the WPB claims in the statement.
Save secular and democratic nature
The failure of the interim administration to take decisive action to curb the “mob rule” on the streets since August 2024 has created fear among the common people and political activists, forcing them to abstain from expressing their preferences and opinions freely, the WPB claimed.
The WPB has recently expressed its apprehension that the level of immunity enjoyed by the mob may create further unrest in the country in the coming days and will cause a civil-war like situation.
Read more: Interim government is pushing Bangladesh towards a civil war, says Workers Party
On Monday, the WPB alleged that the interim administration, led by Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus, is pushing the country towards one-sided elections by failing to curb the violence on the streets or to address the concerns raised by political opponents.
In this context, the WPB asked all sections of the country to stand united to save the spirit of its liberation movement. People must defend Bangladesh’s secular and democratic identity and fight to save its sovereignty in the face of the growing imperialist onslaught, it appealed.
The post Workers Party of Bangladesh withdraws from upcoming national elections citing political persecution appeared first on Peoples Dispatch.
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