DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Tens of thousands of opposition supporters rallied in Bangladesh’s capital Saturday to call for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to step down and install an interim before the next general election expected in early 2024.
Supporters of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, arrived at the protest site in Dhaka overnight under tight security, while Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan warned of dire consequences if the demonstration is violent.
Hasina and her ruling Awami League party, which forcibly returned in 2018 for the third time in a row, rejected the opposition’s demand and said an interim government runs counter to the spirit of the country’s constitution.
The Golapbagh corridor in Dhaka filled Saturday morning and crowds took to the streets as opposition activists chanted slogans such as “Down with Hasina” and “We need fair elections. “
Saturday’s rally is the 10th for the main opposition party after it said in September it would hold protests in 10 primary cities across the country. All of the outdoor rallies in Dhaka have drawn massive crowds despite the challenges, adding what the party has described as politically motivated sending moves and intimidation through security agencies and the ruling party. Police and the ruling party have denied the allegations.
The demonstration in Dhaka took place under heightened tension after police stormed the party’s headquarters following clashes between police and opposition supporters on Wednesday, leaving at least one dead and 50 injured. Police arrested more than 400 opposition activists.
On Friday, detectives raided the homes of two senior leaders, adding Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir. Both were denied bail.
Zahiruddin Swapan, a two-time former lawmaker and opposition spokesman, told The Associated Press that as of Saturday afternoon, about 1. 5 million opposition supporters had joined the rally.
“We need free and fair elections. To facilitate this, this repressive government will have to disappear, parliament will have to be dissolved and a new electoral commission will have to be installed,” he said. “They came here to force through voting—manipulation and intimidation. “
Faruk Hossain, a spokesman for the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told the AP that the venue has a maximum capacity of 30,000 people and that if adjacent streets were taken into account, the demonstration may not have attracted more than 60,000 people.
Witnesses of up to 100,000 opposition activists joined the demonstration.
In 1996 an interim formula of government in an electoral era to oversee national elections was incorporated into the charter, but was annulled in 2011 under Hasina through the passage of a statutory amendment and after the Supreme Court ruled that the formula was not statutory.
The BNP boycotted the 2014 elections and the effects of the 2018 vote were challenged due to allegations of electoral fraud through the ruling party, which won with an overwhelming majority.
On Saturday, seven BNP MPs who attended the rally announced their resignation from Parliament.
Fifteen Western embassies issued a joint statement Tuesday calling on the government to allow freedom of expression, nonviolent assembly and fair elections, and the UN followed suit the next day.
Bangladeshi politics has become polarized, with Hasina and Zia being the most influential rivals. Although the country is a parliamentary democracy, it has a violent history of coups and counter-coups.