Distinguished Professor Ali Riaz has published a commentary on the state of Bangladeshi politics after the controversial elections held December 30, 2018.
International media had reported widespread irregularities in the election, which delivered a victory to the incumbent Bangladesh Awami League.
Riaz, in the article “Politics gone missing” for the Daily Star, insists that direct involvement of the administration and members of the law-enforcing agencies in support of the incumbent has driven out politics from the electoral arena and has put the members of the administration and law enforcement agencies in the driver’s seat.
He writes that the defining feature of the 2018 election was the blurring of lines among the state, the government, and the ruling party. The gradual dismantling of institutions like the electoral system is the way to depoliticize a society, Riaz writes. The freedom of expression, enshrined in the constitution of the country, has now become elusive, he contends.
