Bangladeshi Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen expressed concern over Washington's and London’s criticisms that the election was illegitimate. “We’re not bothered,” Momen said however when asked for a comment.
Bangladesh held the election at the weekend that was boycotted by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, BNP, led by former premier Khaleda Zia.
Despite low voters’ turnout of about 40 percent, Hasina’s party and its coalition partners won almost all seats, giving her fourth straight term to rule the country as prime minister.
Hours after the official election results were declared, Sheikh Hasina hosted a queue of foreign diplomats, each coming to congratulate her, including from India, the Philippines, Singapore as well as the ambassadors of Russia and China.
However, the United Kingdom and the United States criticized the election. US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, in a statement, said that Washington believed the voting process was “not free and fair, and we regret that not all parties participated”. The UK also criticized what it described as “acts of intimidation and violence” during the election.
China and Russia, however, extended their congratulatory messages, which are seen as a window into potentially dramatic foreign policy consequences of Hasina’s return to power.
For the West, Hasina’s increasing ties with China and Russia, on top of Bangladesh’s rejection of its concerns over the election, could poison ties with Dhaka. But that in turn could end up pushing Dhaka even closer to Beijing and Moscow, analysts believe.
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