Author: Admin
-
November 2018
Overview. Political formations ahead of the upcoming national elections continues to dominate the conversation in Bangladesh. Election dates should have been announced by now, but we continue to wait. The most important political development last month was the formation of the Jatiya Oikya Front ("United National Front") on 13th October, led by Dr.…… Read the…
-
November 2018
Overview. During the reporting period the political situation remained stable with no major agitation from opposition political parties. The Election Commission of Pakistan held peaceful by-elections in several constituencies. The leader of opposition in the national assembly, Mr. Shahbaz Sharif, stood before the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) trial, the Armed Forces underwent some major changes…
-
October 2018
Overview. With the upcoming national elections absorbing the majority of the country’s energies, the reporting period featured few events of note. We anticipate that the specific date for the late December 2018 elections will be announced mid-to-late October, with election manifestos being published shortly thereafter. The general assumption is that Sheikh Hasina and the Awami…
-
October 2018
Overview. The reporting period featured a visit by US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, National Defence Day celebrations, an election for the President of Pakistan, frequent visits by the new PM to military institutions, and some steps towards electoral reforms. The frequency of terrorist incidents has significantly reduced, with no major terrorist incident this month.………
-
September 2018
Overview. Whilst Bangladesh continued to be socially and politically fractious during August, there were some interesting corporate developments in tobacco, pharma, and biscuits/confectionery. As mentioned in the previous report the city corporation elections were held on 30th July 2018. Voting day in Sylhet especially saw several incidents, with the BNP accusing the ruling Awami League…
-
September 2018
Overview. August was comparatively peaceful with no major terrorist incidents featuring. It had been presumed that the post-election period might witness a deterioration in law and order nationwide due to protest demonstrations by losing political parties. However, the various opposition parties were unable to agree and coordinate any concrete action between them.…… Read the rest
-
September 2018
Overview. August has been dominated by Iran’s economic, social and political woes resulting from the US imposition of sanctions previously suspended under the nuclear deal (JCPOA). Political pressure is increasing on Rouhani’s government as prices rise for ordinary Iranians, official corruption is called out and international companies – particularly Europeans – leave the market.…… Read…
-
August 2018
Overview. The reporting period featured fractious mayoral elections in three key city corporations, student protests in Dhaka over road safety, and mooted tax rises to improve the country’s tax revenue to GDP ratio. With Bangladesh’s 11th national elections due to occur in Q4, campaigning by the various parties has been underway for some time. … Read…
-
August 2018
Overview. The period was dominated by the General Elections and, as predicted, violence increased significantly with over 300 people killed and more than 350 wounded versus 24 and 22 respectively in June. The 2013 elections, by contrast, saw 128 people killed and 142 injured. For all the pre-election predictions, the scale of the PTI’s victory…
-
July 2018
Overview. The reporting period was dominated by the release of the 2018/2019 budget yet concerns remain over terrorism and political stability. Bangladesh is prone to regular periods of political instability involving frequent campaigns of street violence led by various political parties. The historic rivalry between the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the Islamist opposition…