Votes are being counted in Bangladesh following the country’s first election since student-led protests forced the long-time prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, into exile in 2024.
Over 2,000 candidates are contesting 350 parliamentary seats. Hasina’s Awami League, banned from participating after her departure, is absent from the ballot for the first time in decades. The election pits the centre-right Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) against a coalition led by the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami, which has allied with the student-led National Citizen Party (NCP).
With results expected Friday, many voters are hopeful for a return to democratic governance. For the first time since 2008, the outcome is uncertain, following years of elections widely criticized as rigged in Hasina’s favour. Hasina, now sentenced to death in absentia over a brutal crackdown on protests that killed hundreds, remains in exile in India, rejecting the charges and questioning the election’s legitimacy.
Despite her absence, voters reported feeling empowered to make a choice. More than 120 million people were eligible to vote, roughly 40% under the age of 37. The election also includes a referendum on proposed constitutional changes aimed at reforming the country’s political system, introduced by the interim government that replaced Hasina.
Interim leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus described the day as “ending the nightmare and beginning a new dream.” Turnout reached 49% by mid-afternoon, with nearly a million police and soldiers deployed to maintain security.
Key candidates cast their ballots in Dhaka, including Tarique Rahman of the BNP and Shafiqur Rahman of Jamaat-e-Islami. Tarique Rahman, son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, has criticized Jamaat for using religious sentiment in campaigns and promised economic and democratic reforms, as well as a “National Reconciliation Commission” to heal divisions.
Jamaat-e-Islami, running independently for the first time, has fielded more than 200 male candidates, while allowing the NCP to field only two women among 30 candidates. The BNP has 10 female candidates out of more than 250. Despite Jamaat’s growing grassroots support, female voters feel largely sidelined, even though women played a central role in the uprising that toppled Hasina.
Rahman of the BNP, who lived in London during Hasina’s tenure, is widely considered a front-runner. Jamaat’s campaign emphasizes justice and anti-corruption and seeks to present itself as a modernized alternative. Observers note that the absence of the Awami League has reshaped Bangladesh’s political landscape, opening space for new competition and uncertainty.
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