Bangladesh is expected to hold its scheduled national elections Sunday, despite a boycott by opposition candidates.
While the ruling Awami League is assured a victory in a field devoid of challengers, analysts still expect the election to deepen the south Asian nation’s political turmoil.
Winners have already been declared without a contest in more than half of the national assembly seats because of the opposition’s boycott.
The opposition, led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, has stayed away from the polls, saying the election process is too heavily tilted in favor of the ruling party.
Opposition groups accuse Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League of standing in the way of fair elections by scrapping a neutral interim-administration system that has overseen elections since 1996.