Tensions mount in Bangladesh as national elections approach, but a leading American analyst foresees no path to legitimacy. Michael Rubin of the American Enterprise Institute asserts that without major parties at the table, the polls are neither independent nor equitable – a democratic charade already in motion.
In an exclusive IANS interview, Rubin stated flatly, ‘There will be absolutely no free and fair election in Bangladesh.’ He stressed that credible votes require head-to-head battles between popular mainstream forces, a standard Bangladesh is brazenly ignoring.
The bid to ban the Awami League, pushed by interim chief Muhammad Yunus (in office since August 8, 2024) and allies like Jamaat-e-Islami, betrays their dread of fair defeat, Rubin observed. This comes against a backdrop of unchecked violence that has eluded US intervention.
Rubin has long flagged Bangladesh as a brewing US foreign policy headache. In a keynote at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue’s Bangladesh election conference, he described the crisis as a ‘slow-motion train wreck.’ He dismantled myths of organic mid-2024 unrest, equating the upcoming vote to authoritarian pageants in the USSR or Iran.
Compounding risks, Rubin exposed Pakistani backing – with concrete evidence – for a student outfit tied to Jamaat-e-Islami, fueling visions of reunification as ‘East Pakistan.’ He criticized diplomatic isolation, which skews intelligence through narrow elite networks.
Bangladesh’s electoral crossroads demands urgent scrutiny. Rubin’s insights compel a reckoning: inclusive politics or inevitable strife? As global powers deliberate, the poll’s integrity hangs by a thread, with profound implications for regional stability.