Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will retain her title as the world¡¯s longest serving female head of government after her party swept more than half of the parliament seats in an election boycotted by her opponents and voters.

Hasina¡¯s Awami League party won at least 157 of 299 seats for a simple majority, according to two major television networks citing polling data. The election for one seat was postponed.

The Election Commission has put the turnout at about 40%, a sharp from 2018¡¯s 80%, as voters heeded a campaign by the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) to shun the election and draw attention to the sweeping crackdown her government carried out in the run-up to the polls.