Can an election still be called inclusive when one of the country’s largest political forces is barred from taking part?
In this episode of the SADF Podcast, Tapas Kanti Baul speaks with Paulo Casaca, Founder and Executive Director of SADF, about Bangladesh’s upcoming national election and the role of the European Union in assessing its democratic credibility. The discussion centres on what Casaca sees as a fundamental contradiction: the 2024 election was criticised as insufficiently inclusive when the BNP chose to boycott, while the current process is being described as inclusive despite the Awami League being formally excluded.
Casaca argues that electoral legitimacy cannot be separated from the wider political environment. He points to attacks on major newspapers, pressure on journalists and intellectuals, restrictions on political participation, minority insecurity and the growing influence of Jamaat-e-Islami. He also questions whether international actors, including the EU and the United States, are applying democratic standards consistently or helping legitimise a political order that is becoming more exclusionary.
The episode also examines the limits of election observation itself. A functioning Election Commission cannot compensate for the absence of freedom of expression, freedom of association, judicial independence and open political competition. Casaca is especially critical of attempts to combine elections with constitutional changes produced by bodies lacking a clear democratic mandate.
The broader question is therefore unavoidable: if Europe accepts lower democratic standards in Bangladesh than it would accept at home, what exactly is it observing—and what is it legitimising?
Tags:
#Bangladesh #Elections #Democracy #EuropeanUnion #ElectionObservation #PoliticalParticipation #FreedomOfExpression #RuleOfLaw #JamaatEIslami #AwamiLeague #BNP #MinorityRights #DemocraticBacksliding #SouthAsia #SADF
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