By: Sreeradha Datta
Dr Sreeradha Datta is a Professor and Director of the Centre for Analytical Research and Engagement, the Jindal School of International Affairs.
Image: Snapshot of Elections Newsletter
The year 2024 saw the highest number of elections being held in the South Asian states. The year began with parliament elections in Bangladesh on 4 January, closely followed by Bhutan on 9 January. Pakistan held its election exactly a month later on 8 February, which was soon followed by one in Maldives on 21 April 2024. India also hosted a month-long Parliamentary elections during April -May. The latest elections to be held in the region were the Presidential elections in Sri Lanka in September.
While at a glance, it is difficult to discern any trend in all five elections in the region, the electoral verdict was interesting and certainly reflected the ground realities. The electoral results were certainly a reflection of the peoples’ wishes and renewal of their reposed faith in the electoral system with the only exception of the Jatiya Sangsad (parliament) elections held in Bangladesh. The subsequent dramatic political events in Bangladesh substantiated much of the ground feelings once again.
The year started with elections in Bangladesh. An election that was largely one-sided as non-Awami political parties were unable to participate for a variety of reasons and the ruling party to give it an appearance of a multiparty election, encouraged various political entities to develop almost overnight, those which were essentially breakaway groups from within the Awami League itself. But clearly, it was not enough, as Bangladesh recorded the second lowest voter turnout since the return of democracy in 1991. The Awami League was declared to have received 223 seats but given the additional presence of erstwhile Awami Leaguers now elected in their new avatar, AL had an overarching control in the 300-seat parliament. While the last election campaign in Bangladesh was one of the most violent phases with the rampant arrests of opposition members, Bhutan on the other hand experienced one of their most peaceful electioneering phases this time around. Although economic woes, high inflation leading to severe daily struggles for the common man and rising unemployment have been cause for concern in both these two South Asian polities.
In an electoral landscape of five political parties contesting, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Bhutan, one of the oldest political parties, garnered 30 seats out of the 47 with Bhutan Tendrel Party, the newest party made its presence felt with 17 seats. PDP has received the electoral support to form the government for the second time led by Tshering Tobgay.
Pakistan’s elections on 8 February were comparably more dramatic, which was held after two years of political instability since April 2022. The election result was most unexpected with candidates backed by Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf winning 93 out of 266 seats in the Parliament. As is well known, Imran Khan was languishing in jail during this period and there seemed many controversies surrounding this election. While no single party could win a majority, Pakistan’s two older and still following the dynastic rule parties, Sharif’s PML-N and the Bhutto family’s Pakistan People’s Party, secured 75 and 54 seats, respectively. These two parties formed a coalition government with the PML-N's Shehbaz Sharif as Prime Minister. The stronghold of the military in Pakistan's politics and the organs of the government, especially the Judiciary being under their influence was evident once again in Pakistan’s latest elections.
The largest democracy in the world held its Lok Sabha parliamentary elections soon after. All shades of Indian political parties undertook very robust election campaigns. The electorate verdict was a mixed bag with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seeking a continued third term, receiving the highest number of 240 seats in the 543-seat lower house of the parliament but not enough to form the government. BJP had to fall back on the support of its coalition parties namely, Telugu Desam Party and the Janata Dal for the required majority of 370 seats. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP, formed the government with 11 Union ministers from the coalition partners, with BJP retaining the 72 ministerial berths for itself.
The latest election in Sri Lanka ushered in a tectonic shift. Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the leader of the National People’s Power (NPP) alliance, which includes his Marxist-leaning Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP). Sri Lanka which in recent times has faced severe economic and political challenges really voted for a change. Dissanayaka's political alliance represents a distinct leftist bent and his party has been associated with violent insurrections in the past. His win reflects a radical departure from Sri Lanka’s earlier choices of traditional political elites. The economic downturn that Sri Lanka faced two years ago followed by the Aragalaya movement was an important factor for the electoral shift. Whether he will be able to walk the talk in terms of the reforms this government now wishes to usher in and the lens they will see India and its equally important neighbour China remains a point of speculation. But Sri Lanka has broken the stranglehold of its erstwhile elitist leaders and their policies are rather obvious.
The majority of the election campaigns in the region saw issues of religious nationalism, external security threat perception, media hyperbole, managing the economic downturn and political alignments. The people of South Asia that people did not hesitate to shake the status quo in pursuit of equity and the promise of better prospects was as always discernible. While in many of the states, the voter turnout remained low, the outcome possibly conveyed that it's always about people’s choices and that each vote counts.
* Professor, Jindal School of International Affairs, O.P Jindal Global University, and
Non-Resident Senior Fellow, ISAS-NUS. Singapore
The views expressed in this article are those of the author (s). They do not reflect the views or opinions of Diplomania or its members.
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