The party of ex-Bangladesh premier Sheikh Hasina Wajed, out on bail from corruption charges and in the US, has swept the first polls since an army-backed government took charge last year, officials said Tuesday. Her Awami League party won all four city mayoral posts and eight out of nine municipalities in Monday's local elections, the Election Commission announced.
The Commission has hailed the polls as a success, saying voter turnout was high with no reports of the violence that has marred previous elections in the South Asian nation. "The polls were free, fair and credible. Our candidates were elected mayors to all four cities where elections were held, and eight out of nine municipalities," party spokesman Tofael Ahmed said. One Awami League candidate contested and won the mayoral seat in the key north-eastern city of Sylhet while in custody on corruption charges.
Sheikh Hasina, who ruled the country between 1996 and 2001, is one of about 150 top politicians detained by the government after it launched a nation-wide crackdown on corruption a month after taking over in January 2007.
She was freed on parole in June in an apparent deal with authorities, allowing her to travel to the United States and ensuring her party's participation in the government's elections. Her parole is due to end Wednesday. However, observers said it was unlikely Sheikh Hasina - who is on trial in absentia - would return to Bangladesh until after general elections scheduled for December.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of her bitter rival Khaleda Zia, who was the last elected prime minister of the country but has been detained on graft links, was roundly defeated in Monday's elections. Government authorities said the polls were an "important step" towards restoring democracy by the end of this year and a key test for the digital voter list designed to stop fraud in future polls.
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