Bangladesh Nationalist Party secures victory in general election
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has secured a victory in the general election, which was held 18 months after prolonged political unrest ousted the country’s former prime minister, Sheikh Hasina.
Unofficial results released by election officials on Friday showed the BNP winning 209 seats, easily surpassing the 151-seat threshold needed for a majority in parliament. BNP is led by Tarique Rahman, the son of former PM Khaleda Zia, who died in December.
The BNP was followed by Jamaat-e-Islami, which secured 68 seats in Thursday’s polls. The National Citizen Party (NCP) won just six of the 30 seats it contested. Hasina's Awami League was banned from participating.
The parliament comprises 350 lawmakers, with 50 seats reserved for women.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party sweeps victory in first election since the 'Gen-Z uprising' that ousted the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2024.
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The Election Commission has yet to formally announce the final tally, which is expected soon; some sources indicate Saturday, though results continue to be updated.
BNP officials said the party expected to form a government by Sunday.
BNP leader Rahman is now set to become the country’s next prime minister.
Rahman, who faces huge challenges in reviving the country’s economy, returned to Bangladesh in December after 17 years of self-imposed exile in the United Kingdom.
The election featured a record number of parties, more than 50, and at least 2,000 candidates, many of them independents.
Turnout stood at almost 60 percent of registered voters, well above the nearly 42 percent in the last election in 2024.
More than 127 million people were eligible to cast their votes.
Bangladesh is holding its first election since the collapse of former PM Sheikh Hasina’s government in 2024, which followed mass protests.
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The Election Commission also said some 48 million voters chose “Yes” while about 23 million said “No” in a referendum on constitutional reforms held alongside the election, though there was no official word on the final outcome at the time.
Several hundred international observers monitored Thursday’s voting.
An interim government led by Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus, 85, has been in office since Hasina resigned following the July-August 2024 unrest and fled the country by helicopter to neighboring India.
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Bangladesh Nationalist Party secures victory in general election
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