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In Bangladesh, we use the word "গৃহপালিত" for an opposition party that was installed by a ruling regime through a rigged election. The main duty of this party is to give the vibe that the country is democratic. They do nothing that may harm the ruling party in anyway. So, what is the correct phrase in English for such an opposition party?

The word "গৃহপালিত" literally translates to pet, domestic, or domesticated. I have seen some of our English daily using the term domesticated for such a party. For example, here. But I think there might be a better phrase that non native English speakers like me are not aware of.

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    To clarify, (1) Is it that the "Current Ruling Party" will "rig the elections" to again "win" , & let the "Opposition" Party "win" few places to remain the "Domesticated Opposition" ? Then it may be something like "Caged Opposition" !! Or (2) Is it that the "Current Ruling Party" will "rig the elections" to "lose" & let the "Opposition" win but not have real Power, which will remain with the "Current Ruling Party" ? Then it may be something like "B-team" !!
    – Prem
    Commented Jul 31, 2022 at 18:27
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    I’m voting to close this question because it seems to be a rant about one nation's internal politics.
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Jul 31, 2022 at 19:05
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    It's not particular to politics, but tame is sometimes used as a semi-jocular epithet to describe somebody who do somebody else's bidding, rather than show their independence. It is not used predicatively in this sense (i.e. you wouldn't normally say "He is tame"; but I can imagine somebody referring to "the governments' tame opposition", which is the same metaphor as the Bengali.
    – Colin Fine
    Commented Jul 31, 2022 at 19:13
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    @MichaelHarvey If we assume good intentions, I think that's a little too harsh. The question can be edited to take out the more opinionated parts.
    – Joachim
    Commented Jul 31, 2022 at 19:25
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    @Imran Colin is right. In the UK, the opposition party is often referred to as "The Loyal Opposition" or "Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition" but they are loyal to the Queen, not the party in power. They are anything but a puppet of the ruling party.
    – Peter Jennings
    Commented Jul 31, 2022 at 22:05

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I don't think there is a specific phrase for this in English.

We sometimes use tame attributively in a (sometimes jocular) fashion to mean "having a function but not applying that function in an independent way); so if you said "a/the tame opposition", I think people would understand this to mean what you want to convey.

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Converting my Earlier Comment into a longer Comment !

(Case 1) The "Current Ruling Party X" will "rig the elections" to again "win" , & let the "Y Opposition" Party "win" few places to remain the "Domesticated Opposition" :
Then Y may be something like "Caged Opposition" or "Toothless Tiger"

(Case 2) The "Current Ruling Party X" will "rig the elections" to "lose" & let the "Y Opposition" win but not have real Power, which will remain with the "Current Ruling Party" :
Then Y may be something like "Impotent Government" or "B-team of X"

(Case 3, which OP is concerned about) The "Current Ruling Party X" will "rig the elections" to again "win" , & let the "Y Opposition" Party "win" few places, where Y (which is ally of X) will remain the "Domesticated Opposition" :
Then Y may be something like "Pseudo Opposition" or "Sham Opposition"

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    Yes, I think the word pseudo or sham depicts the whole scenario better.
    – Imran
    Commented Jul 31, 2022 at 19:35
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    +1 but note that these are "descriptive phrases" and not "What this is called in English". There isn't a word to describe this state of affairs in English, any more than there is a native word in English for kimono.
    – James K
    Commented Jul 31, 2022 at 19:41
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    Thanks for the +1 encouragement @JamesK ! This Question was tagged "phrase-request" & OP asked about "better phrase" or "correct phrase" ; I have given some suggestions but there can be no "Exact Correct Match" native term !!
    – Prem
    Commented Jul 31, 2022 at 19:50

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