Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina wins again: Election Day in 600-year-old city, Panam Nagar

SUMMARY

Voters in Bangladesh went to the polls Sunday in the densely populated South Asian nation's 11th general election to determine whether to give Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League party a third consecutive term or hand the reins to a loose coalition of opposition parties in the hopes of change. An opposition coalition led by a former foreign minister in Hasina's party was hoping to end her tenure, but the odds favor Hasina, who has campaigned on a pledge to continue developing Bangladesh's economy, dismissing critics who say the mass arrests and jailing of opposition leaders — including her archrival, former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia — show a tendency toward authoritarianism.

By APDec 31, 2018 10:32:25 AM IST (Updated)

A Bangladeshi polling official carries a ballot box for counting shortly after the voting ended at a polling station in the ancient city of Panam Nagar, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2018. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

A Bangladeshi woman casts her vote at a polling station in the ancient city of Panam Nagar, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2018. People in Bangladesh voted Sunday in parliamentary elections seen as a referendum on what critics call Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's increasingly authoritarian rule, amid complaints from both ruling party and opposition activists of attacks on supporters and candidates. Sixteen people were reportedly killed in election-related violence. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

A Bangladeshi polling official waits for voters next to a ballot box at a polling station in the ancient city of Panam Nagar, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2018.(AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

A Bangladeshi polling official carries a ballot box after the polling ended at a polling station in the ancient city of Panam Nagar, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2018. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Bangladeshi polling officials empty the ballot boxes for counting after the voting ended at a polling station in the ancient city of Panam Nagar, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2018. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

A Bangladeshi woman leaves after casting her vote at a polling station in the ancient city of Panam Nagar, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2018. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Abdul Malek Mia, 74, displays indelible ink mark on his thumb after casting his vote at a polling station in the ancient city of Panam Nagar, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2018. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

A Bangladeshi man, left, rushes to cast his vote just before voting ended at a polling station in the ancient city of Panam Nagar, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2018. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Bangladeshi polling officials count ballots shortly after voting ended at a polling station in the ancient city of Panam Nagar, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2018. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)