Washington, February 16: A recent report highlights the outcome of the elections in Bangladesh, indicating that Gen-Z protests have failed to bring about political change.
Joshua Kurlantzick, a senior fellow at the American think tank Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), noted that the protests in Bangladesh in August 2024, which led to the ousting of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, were among the first significant successes of Gen-Z protests in Asia. These events inspired similar movements in Nepal, where protests removed a Prime Minister, and in Indonesia, where protests were halted, among other places.
Kurlantzick pointed out that the impact of these protests reached Madagascar, other parts of Africa, and the Caribbean. The political rebellion of Gen-Z has become a global trend, suggesting that this generation is poised to influence politics worldwide.
However, Kurlantzick stated, “While Gen-Z protests have increased, they have won on the streets but lost at the polls, failing to bring about political change.” He referenced the recent national elections in Thailand, where the party most supported by Gen-Z, the People’s Party, faced defeat. In Japan, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) achieved a significant victory despite challenges from several new parties aligned with Gen-Z.
In Bangladesh, although Sheikh Hasina was removed, the elections resulted in a substantial victory for the BNP, the other half of the long-standing two-party government, rather than for the young faces associated with the protests. The BNP won decisively, yet many Bangladeshis remain skeptical of the party’s intentions.
The student leaders from the 2024 protests formed the National Citizen Party (NCP), but they only secured six out of the 30 parliamentary seats they contested, which Kurlantzick described as “a very weak performance.”
He elaborated that by returning the BNP to power, Bangladeshis voted for significant constitutional changes aimed at preserving democracy, enhancing economic and political opportunities, and combating corruption.
The pressing question now is whether the BNP, now in Parliament, will advance these reforms. Kurlantzick emphasized that the actions of the BNP will reveal if the party has genuinely transformed. If it fails to change, Bangladesh’s political landscape may remain mired in its previous issues.
He also noted that the second-place Islamic party, Jamaat-e-Islami, attempted to rebrand itself for the elections, despite its history of being associated with political violence and its clear misogyny. Although the elections were reportedly free and fair on the day, there was a surge of political killings and violence leading up to the voting, a recurring issue in Bangladesh.
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