DHAKA, Bangladesh: When the founding leader of Bangladesh, father of current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was assassinated in 1975 after helping achieve independence from Pakistan, then-Foreign Minister Kamal Hossain abandoned a state visit in Europe to rush to her side.
Now Hossain, 82, is helming a popular opposition against Hasina that aims to prevent his former Awami League party from maintaining its hold on Bangladesh in Sunday’s parliamentary elections.
“There should be a very decisive victory for the opposition if it’s free and fair,” Hossain said in an interview Saturday with The Associated Press. “If there is some kind of a decision in favor of the present government, I can assure you that it will not be a free and fair election.”
A respected Oxford-educated lawyer, Hossain emerged as an improbable opposition leader after a court disqualified Hasina’s chief rival, former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, because she is serving a 17-year sentence for corruption.
Although Zia is in solitary confinement in a colonial-era jail, she is not alone: More than 15,000 opposition party activists and critics have been arrested since November, the vice chairman of Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party said Saturday. At least nine people have been killed in campaign-related skirmishes, the party said.
“The urge for power can make someone who’s human into something less than human,” Hossain said of Hasina.
Hossain supported Hasina as part of a grand coalition in 2008 elections, when the Awami League and its allies secured 270 of the 300 seats in Bangladesh’s Parliament.
But in 2014, Zia and the BNP boycotted the polls, leaving more than half of the parliamentary seats uncontested. Voter turnout in the country of 160 million was a dismal 22 percent, and the Awami League’s landslide victory was met with violent protests that left at least 22 people dead.
Hossain is among those who see that election as illegitimate. He said the government since then has been characterized by “unprecedented corruption” and “political patronage of the crudest kind.” He said Hasina — the daughter of a revolutionary fighter and his former benefactor — has shown increasing authoritarian tendencies.
The ruling party has challenged that narrative by focusing on Bangladesh’s plaudits by the World Bank and others as a development success story. Its economy grew nearly 8 percent this year on greater agricultural production and the South Asian country’s booming garments exports industry, the second-largest in the world after China.
The Awami League says its supporters also have been targeted during the run-up to the vote, alleging in a statement Saturday that opposition activists had killed six of their party leaders and injured hundreds more in bomb and arson attacks.
Hasina implored her supporters to stay at polling stations Sunday until the votes had been counted.
“I am alerting all, don’t get confused even if the BNP announces that they are boycotting the election,” Hasina said while visiting a party leader injured in campaign violence at a military-run hospital in Dhaka.
“I want to say, maybe the BNP would say at one point of the election that they are withdrawing from the race, we will not compete. Don’t trust them. It could be a ploy,” she said.
Hossain, too, said he is telling his supporters to stay at voting centers — even at the risk of violence.
“We are saying very strongly ... whatever we do, let us stick it out, however ugly,” he said.
Bangladesh opposition leader expects victory if vote is fair
Bangladesh opposition leader expects victory if vote is fair
- Hossain supported Hasina as part of a grand coalition in 2008 elections, when the Awami League and its allies secured 270 of the 300 seats in Bangladesh’s Parliament
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Stars and royals gather for the BAFTA film awards, with ‘One Battle’ and ‘Sinners’ leading the race
LONDON: Hollywood stars and British celebrities, from Paddington Bear to the Princess of Wales, gathered Sunday for the British Academy Film Awards, where politically charged thriller “One Battle After Another” and blues-steeped epic “Sinners” led the field of nominees.
The two films snagged early prizes, with Wunmi Mosaku taking the supporting actress award for “Sinners,” and Sean Penn winning the supporting actor trophy for “One Battle After Another.”
Oddsmakers suggest Shakespearean family tragedy “Hamnet” could beat the front-runners to best picture if British film industry voters respond to the emotionally rich story, earthy English setting and intense performances in Chloé Zhao’s adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s historical novel.
Stars including Leonardo DiCaprio, Timothée Chalamet, Emma Stone, Cillian Murphy, Glenn Close and Ethan Hawke were among those walking the red carpet outside London’s Royal Festival Hall before a black-tie ceremony hosted by Scottish actor Alan Cumming.
Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales also attended, three days after William’s uncle Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested by police and held for 11 hours over allegations he sent sensitive government information to the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The scandal has rocked the royal family led by King Charles III, though William and Kate remain popular standard-bearers for the monarchy. William is due to present an award in his role as president of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
Among the biggest receptions from gathered fans was for Paddington, the puppet bear who stars in a musical stage adaption of the beloved children’s classic.
Oscars bellwether
“One Battle” has 14 nominations, including best picture and acting nods for five of its cast. “Sinners” is just behind with 13, while “Hamnet” and the ping-pong odyssey “Marty Supreme” each have 11 nominations.
Guillermo del Toro’s reimagining of “Frankenstein” and Norwegian family drama ” Sentimental Value” each got eight nominations.
The British prizes, officially called the EE BAFTA Film Awards, often provide hints about who will win at Hollywood’s Academy Awards, held this year on March 15. In the Oscar nominations, “Sinners” leads the race with a record 16 nominations, followed by “One Battle After Another” with 13.
Cumming told the audience that it had been a strong year for cinema, if not a cheerful one, with nominated films tackling themes including child death, racism and political violence:
“Watching the films this year was like taking part in a collective nervous breakdown,” he said. “It’s almost as though there are events going on in the real world that are influencing filmmakers.”
The BAFTA best film nominees are “One Battle After Another,” “Hamnet,” “Marty Supreme,” “Sinners” and “Sentimental Value.” The BAFTAs also have a distinctly British accent, with a separate category for best British film. Its 10 nominees include “The Ballad of Wallis Island,” “Pillion,” “I Swear” and “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy.”
Directing contenders are Paul Thomas Anderson for “One Battle,” Josh Safdie for “Marty Supreme,” Ryan Coogler for “Sinners,” Yorgos Lanthimos for dystopian tragicomedy “Bugonia,” Joachim Trier for “Sentimental Value” and Zhao for “Hamnet.” Zhao will be the first female director to win two BAFTAs if she takes the prize. She won the directing award in 2021 for “Nomadland.”
Best leading actor nominees are bookies’ favorite Chalamet for “Marty Supreme,” DiCaprio for “One Battle After Another,” Ethan Hawke for Broadway biopic “Blue Moon,” Michael B. Jordan for “Sinners,” Jesse Plemons for “Bugonia” and Robert Aramayo for playing an advocate for people with Tourette’s syndrome in biographical drama “I Swear.”
The leading actress category includes the strongly favored Jessie Buckley for her performance as Agnes Hathaway, wife of William Shakespeare, in “Hamnet.” She’s up against Rose Byrne for “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” Kate Hudson for “Song Sung Blue,” Chase Infiniti for “One Battle After Another,” Renate Reinsve for “Sentimental Value” and Emma Stone for “Bugonia.”
“One Battle” actors Teyana Taylor, Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn are all nominated for supporting performances.
AP gets documentary nod
The Associated Press was recognized in the best documentary category with a nomination for Mstyslav Chernov’s harrowing Ukraine war portrait “2000 Meters to Andriivka, ” co-produced by the AP and Frontline PBS.
Most BAFTA winners are chosen by 8,500 members of the UK academy of industry professionals. Contenders for the Rising Star award — the only prize decided by public vote and a reliable picker of future A-listers — are Infiniti, Aramayo, “Sinners” star Miles Caton and British actors Archie Madekwe and Posy Sterling.
Donna Langley, the UK-born chairwoman of NBCUniversal Entertainment, will be awarded the British Academy’s highest honor, the BAFTA fellowship.
The ceremony airs on BBC in the United Kingdom starting at 7 p.m. (1900 GMT) and on E! in the US at 8 p.m. EST.
