PM Hasina set to extend tenure as main Bangladesh opposition boycotts election

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is set to win a fourth straight term and the fifth overall for her Awami League-led alliance in a general election
on Sunday boycotted by the main opposition party and marred by violence ahead of the vote.
Voting will begin at 8 a.m. (0200 GMT) and end at 4 p.m. (1000 GMT). Counting will start soon after the end of voting, with initial results expected by early Monday.
Rights groups say the country of 170 million is headed for virtual one-party rule, after the boycott by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and some of its smaller allies.
The United States and Western nations, important customers of its garment industry, have called for a free and fair election – the country’s 12th since independence in 1971.
About 120 million voters will choose from nearly 2,000 candidates for the 300 directly elected parliamentary seats. There are 436 independent candidates, the most since 2001.