Bangladeshi Sheikh Hasina secured her fifth term as Bangladeshi prime minister in an election in which the main opposition boycotted the poll. Instead of any political party, independent candidates secured a total of 63 seats, the second highest after Hasina’s Awami League (AL), which won 222.

The current opposition, the Jatiya Party, managed to secure just 11 of the 300 parliamentary seats, according to the Election Commission.

Almost all the winning independent contenders were people who had been rejected by the AL but were asked by the party leadership to stand as “dummy candidates” to give the election a competitive veneer in front of the world.
Meanwhile, Sri Lankan High Commissioner in Bangladesh was among the first seven envoys to congratulate AL on winning the election.         

• Sri Lanka among first seven countries to congratulate