The 15 February elections in Bangladesh left a government loudly proclaiming victory, and almost no quarter giving it the benefit of the doubt. Voting day itself was marked with polling in hundreds of centres postponed, repolling ordered in many more, and an election-related death toll of 12. Amidst all this, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Prof Badruddoza Chowdhury said that the Government had achieved success in the sixth National Assembly elections and that the new cabinet would once again be under Begum Khaleda Zia.
The leader of the opposition, Sheikh Hasina Wajed of the Awami League, maintained that the country was government-less, and that the BNP's claim to power was illegitimate. She said the Chief Justice should be asked to form a neutral caretaker government to hold another round of elections. Sheikh Hasina called for "resistance" from the public and declared the Awami League's agitation would end only with the announcement of a new date for national elections.
The opposition did succeed in its plan to turn election day into a "dead day" marked by a "people's curfew". Even though the results might be called a "landslide" for the percentage in the BNP's favour, the minimally attended election gave no indication whatsoever of the party's standing with the people. In the face of the poor turnout, the BNP's stance was that the numbers did not matter as much as the legality of the election, which was a constitutional obligation. More than legality, it is the moral aspects and popular image which will decide the shape of things to come. The Election Commission under Justice Sadeque is not really known for independence and assertiveness, but it did withhold results in 35 seats and order investigations in centres where turnout was suspiciously heavy.
Independent election observers as well as the national and international press reported largescale rigging. The Fair Election Monitoring Alliance (FEMA), an outfit enjoying considerable funding support from Western development agencies, categorically stated that the election was "neither free nor fair".