We are coming back to power, no doubt about it, says Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina

Dhaka, Dec 29: Bangladesh is set to witness its 11th general election on Sunday, December 30, and the international observers are keeping a close watch on the outcome of the results for the last time, the general election in one of the fastest growing economies of the world was perceived to be sham by most quarters as the Opposition decided to keep away.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, daughter of the country's late founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, is seeking her third straight term after the 2008 and 2014 victories and speaking to Anandabazar Patrika, she said there was little doubt of her Awami League returning to power once again for she felt the people of the country wanted them.

'People of Bangladesh are with us'

"I have full faith on the people of Bangladesh. People are with us and we will get elected with their support," Hasina said in the exclusive interview. The 71-year-old leader said in support of her conviction that people of Bangladesh still remember the violence the country had witnessed in 2013 and the people have rejected those who were behind the violence. The Opposition had in the past accused the League government of targeting minorities in Bangladesh. The Opposition, however, is not in a good shape this time as its main face Khaleda Zia, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader and also a former premier of Bangladesh, has been jailed in relation to a corruption case while BNP's ally Jamaat-e-Islami has been stripped of the right to contest in the election.

When asked about the Opposition's allegation against the ruling party, Hasina said the Opposition was only spreading lies and misleading people. She also said the youths of Bangladesh was finding interest in the League for they are rediscovering the country's past that included a hard-earned freedom from West Pakistani occupants who carried out mayhem in East Pakistan before it became Bangladesh in 1971.