The end of complacency

Sheikh Hasina's position seemed unassailable - until, suddenly, it wasn't

With hindsight, there was far too much complacency about deposed Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s hold on power. The apparent disarray of the official Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party — whose leader, Ms Hasina’s long-time rival Khaleda Zia, was sentenced to 17 years in jail in 2018, and has been ill for some time — meant that the Awami League appeared unassailable. The Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami retained many committed activists, but it also seemed to carry too much historical and ideological baggage to be seen as a credible replacement for the BNP as an effective Opposition. Given the lack