AL to return to power with majority on Dec 30 polls: EIU

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DHAKA, Dec 12, 2018 (BSS) – The ruling Awami League (AL) will return to
power with majority of parliamentary seats in the next election slated for
December 30 as it has overseen solid economic growth, said London-based
Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) in a report on December 4.

“The Economist Intelligence Unit expects the Awami League, led by Sheikh
Hasina, to win a third term in parliament in the elections at end-2018,” said
EIU, a research and analysis division of The Economist Group, the sister
company to The Economist newspaper.

The report said that the country’s impressive record of economic growth and
socio-economic development under the Awami League administration, coupled
with a lack of an effective opposition election campaign, will be enough to
fend off any challenge posed by the BNP or the Jatiya Oikya Front more
broadly.

It also forecasted that the country’s economic growth would remain robust
and real GDP will grow by an average of 7.7 percent per year in 2018/19-
2022/23, bolstered by strong increases in private consumption and gross fixed
investment.

The report also specifically mentioned the reputation of Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina as being the key factor in election. It stated that Sheikh
Hasina remains the most popular candidate, according to numerous local
opinion polls.

A win for Awami League will be important in sustaining foreign investment
and will also support the administration’s drive to expand and deepen private
sector participation in the economy, it said, adding that following such a
win, Bangladesh is expected to continue to utilize its strategically
important location on the Bay of Bengal to extract concessions and economic
assistance from India, China and Japan.

But Bangladesh’s relations with Myanmar will remain tense in the medium
term owing to the Rohingya refugee crisis which will remain severe, at least
in the early part of the forecast period, the report added.