Sheikh Hasina has been elected as the Bangladeshi Prime Minister for the fifth time, following an election that saw the main opposition boycott the vote and independent candidates secure a total of 63 seats, the second highest after Hasina’s Awami League (AL). The Jatiya Party, the current opposition, managed to secure only 11 of the 300 parliamentary seats. Many electors doubted the official 40 percent voter turnout announced by the Election Commission, given the low number of people at polling booths. The opposition, led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), had declared a 48-hour strike over the election weekend and claimed that most polling booths across the country had been empty throughout the day. Though the election saw fewer deaths and less violence compared to previous elections, the legitimacy of Hasina’s victory was questioned by opposition leaders. Foreign observers claimed that the voting process was systematic and peaceful, but the opposition argued that the election was not legitimate because there were very few voters.