The parliamentary election held on Thursday was Bangladesh’s first vote since the 2024 Gen Z-driven uprising that toppled long-time premier Sheikh Hasina.
A clear outcome had been seen as crucial for stability in the Muslim-majority nation of 175 million after months of deadly anti-Hasina unrest disrupted everyday life and hit major industries, including the garment sector in the world’s second largest exporter.
By around 4 am local time, the BNP had secured 185 seats in the 300-member Jatiya Sangsad, or House of the Nation, TV channels showed, easily crossing the halfway mark for a simple majority.
As counting continued, BNP leaders said the party was confident of winning 200 seats and securing a two-thirds majority.
“Of course, BNP is winning, the majority of course, and it would even be a landslide victory,” Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, a BNP standing committee member, said.
“Winning two-thirds of the seats is called a landslide victory, I think we would cross the 200-seat limit.”
The BNP is led by top prime ministerial contender Tarique Rahman, the 60-year-old son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and former President Ziaur Rahman.
Its campaign promises included financial aid for poor families, a limit of 10 years for an individual to remain prime minister, boosting the economy by measures including foreign investments, and anti-corruption policies.
Shafiqur Rahman, the head of BNP’s main rival, the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami, conceded defeat, with his party on just 56 seats.
Rahman said Jamaat would not engage in the “politics of opposition” for the sake of it. “We will do positive politics,” he told reporters.
Hasina’s Awami League party, which ruled the country for more than 15 years until her ousting, was barred from contesting.
Turnout appeared on track on Thursday to exceed the 42 percent recorded in the last election in 2024. Local media reported that more than 60 percent of registered voters were expected to have cast ballots.
More than 2,000 candidates – including many independents – were on the ballot, and at least 50 parties contested seats, a national record. Voting in one constituency was postponed after a candidate died.
Alongside the election, a referendum was held on a set of constitutional reforms, including establishing a neutral interim government for election periods, restructuring parliament into a bicameral legislature, increasing women’s representation, strengthening judicial independence and introducing a two-term limit for the prime minister.
There was no official word on the outcome of the referendum. Leading local newspaper Prothom Alo reported that a ‘Yes’ or positive vote was leading the count.
In a statement sent after polling stations closed, Hasina denounced the election as a “carefully planned farce”, held without her party and without real voter participation. She said Awami League supporters had rejected the process.
“We demand the cancellation of this voterless, illegal and unconstitutional election … the removal of the suspension imposed on the activities of the Awami League, and the restoration of the people’s voting rights through the arrangement of a free, fair, and inclusive election under a neutral caretaker government,” she said. (Reuters)
