Bangladesh Needs Real Elections

In Bangladesh’s parliamentary elections Sunday, everyone lost. The vote was marred by bloodshed, boycotted by the opposition, and notable mostly for a dearth of actual voters. The results reveal only that the country’s bitterly divided political parties need to try again.

Running largely unopposed, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed’s Awami League had won a majority of seats even before polls opened. Yet no government that forms out of these elections -- which Hasina’s own son admitted were “half-baked” -- will ever command solid domestic or international support.