2018 Bangladesh General Election Sunday Dec 30,2018

On Sunday dec 30,2018 Bangladesh will vote in its 11th general elections, which will be held amid widespread violence, deep mistrust and wrangling between the government and the opposition.

The nine-year tenure of incumbent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was marked by allegations of creeping authoritarianism, crushing of political rivals and a gag on media freedom.

Since coming to power in 2009, Hasina used the emotions surrounding the 1971 war to justify her move towards an authoritarian rule.

The Awami League projects itself as the party of liberation, painting the opposition - mainly the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami, which was banned in 2013 - as "pro-Pakistan" and therefore, dangerous and disloyal

An international crimes tribunal set up by Hasina in 2010 sentenced dozens of top Jamaat and BNP leaders to death and jail on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity.

Hasina, 71, is seeking a record fourth term. Her party, the Awami League (AL), leads the Grand Alliance coalition, which is pitted against the Jatiya Oikya Front (or National Unity Front), led by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

BNP chief and two-time prime minister,Khaleda Zia(73) is languishing in a jail in the capital Dhaka and banned from contesting over corruption charges she says are politically motivated.

In Zia's absence, the National Unity Front alliance is being led by Kamal Hossain(82) an Oxford-educated jurist and former law minist

Hossain, however, is not contesting and therefore, it is not clear who will be the prime minister if the opposition alliance wins.