Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has secured her fourth straight term in a controversial election.
Ms Hasina will serve another five years in office after her party the Awami League and its allies won at least 152 of 300 parliamentary seats contested.
The polls were boycotted by the main opposition, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, who have alleged the election is a “sham”.
Sunday’s result comes after mass arrests of BNP leaders and supporters.
Independents won 45 seats and the Jatiya Party won eight seats. Results are expected to be announced officially later on Monday.
It is the fifth term in total for Ms Hasina, who first became prime minister in 1996 and was re-elected in 2009, remaining in power since.
“The BNP is a terrorist organisation,” she told reporters after casting her vote. “I am trying my best to ensure that democracy should continue in this country.”
Human Rights Watch (HRW) estimates that nearly 10,000 activists were arrested after an opposition rally on 28 October turned violent, resulting in the deaths of at least 16 people and injuring more than 5,500. It accused the government of “filling prisons with the ruling Awami League’s political opponents”.
