But even for a nation with such a tumultuous past, the parliamentary polls on January 5 was shocking in its ultraviolence and cynicism. In the 300-member parliament, 154 Awami League candidates were elected uncontested; the remaining 146 won after a friendly fight with Awami rebels, or with one of its coalition partners. In addition, while the 2001 and 2008 elections registered a voter turnout of 74.37 per cent and 85.93 per cent respectively, Sunday’s election—which the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its allies, chiefly the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami, boycotted—saw less than 30 per cent polling. The anticipated violence of polling day—which killed 20 people and saw to the destruction of over 200 school buildings used as polling centres—may have been a reason why people stayed indoors. But the predictability of it all had already subverted all chances of having a meaningful poll.