Bangladesh 2024 Election-Related Violence and News Reporting Analysis
A project conducted by the Centre for Governance Studies.
Background
During the 2024 Bangladesh national election, 27 parties were nominated candidates for the parliamentary elections. The total number of candidates this time was 1,895. Among the candidates, political parties have nominated 1,513, while 382 contested independently. The Jatiya Party fielded the most candidates among the parties, with 265 candidates. The ruling Awami League is in close second with 263 nominated candidates. Among the 382 independent candidates, 269 are being recognised as 'Awami independent candidates' in the polling field. Among them were 28 sitting MPs who did not get party nominations. There are also some constituencies where several Awami independent candidates are contesting. Since the BNP has officially boycotted the election, any BNP-affiliated candidates running as independents have also been kicked out of the party.
Election Day Scenario
Election Campaign Scenario (18 December - 5 January):
Project Summary
The primary goal of this project is to verify the integrity of the 2024 Bangladesh National Election. News reports from all major daily publications, as well as several television channels, online portals, regional newspapers, and social media, will be monitored and analysed to see if there are any election anomalies in breach of the national electoral code of conduct as well as the International Electoral Standards published by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA).
News Tracking Methodology
To create a detailed insight into the conduct of the 2024 elections, CGS monitored news reports from at least ten national-level news dailies (Prothom Alo, Manab Zamin, New Age, Bangladesh Pratidin, Daily Ittefaq, The Business Standard, Jugantor, The Daily Star, Banik Barta, Nayadiganta), as many local-level news publications as possible, at least two online news portals (Bdnews24, UNB), at least two national-level television channels (ATN News Bangla, Channel I), and social media (YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter), from which all reports of irregularities and overreach by law enforcement agencies were tracked and tabulated. CGS also reached out to its extensive journalist network to fact-check the validity of the reported incidents.
Limitations
The scope of this project is limited to collecting data from secondary sources. Any information and detail that is not reported in verified news media, as well as claims and allegations that could not be fact-checked, have not been included in the project's dataset. However, CGS expects that almost every metric this study highlights is underreported. Due to the time lag between an incident happening and its being reported in mainstream media, the true picture of the day becomes clear after a few days have passed. Moreover, due to the limitations of Bangladesh's media, various incidents occurring in remote regions are not reported properly. However, CGS believes that even with all these limitations, the data being gathered already paints a clear picture of the dire state of Bangladesh’s election campaigning period.
Authors
Aong Cha Ching Marma, Research Assistant, CGS
aong@cgs-bd.com
Arman Miah, Program Assistant, CGS
arman@cgs-bd.com
Debi Karmakar , Research Assistant, CGS
debi@cgs-bd.com
Depanjali Roy, Chief of Staff, CGS
depanjali@cgs-bd.com
Marzana Mahnaz Research Assistant, CGS
marzana@cgs-bd.com
Roman Uddin, Research Associate and Youth Outreach Program Coordinator, CGS
roman@cgs-bd.com
Sadia Tasneem, Research Assistant, CGS
sadiatasneem@cgs-bd.com