The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) yesterday celebrated a landslide victory in the first elections held since a deadly 2024 uprising, with party leader Tarique Rahman to become prime minister.
Bangladesh Election Commission figures showed that the BNP alliance had won 212 seats, compared with 77 for the Islamist-led Jamaat-e-Islami alliance.
The US embassy congratulated Rahman and the BNP for a “historic victory,” while India praised Rahman’s “decisive win” in a significant step after recent rocky relations with Bangladesh.
Photo: AP
China and Pakistan, which grew closer to Bangladesh since the uprising and the souring of ties with India, where ousted Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina has sheltered since her ouster, also congratulated the BNP.
The vote passed largely peacefully and the country has been reported to have been calm since polling day.
Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman had mounted a grassroots campaign on a platform of justice and ending corruption.
His party said it was “not satisfied with the process surrounding the election results,” claiming it had logged “repeated inconsistencies and fabrications in unofficial result announcements,” without giving further details.
The commission said turnout was 59 percent across 299 constituencies out of 300 in which voting took place.
Senior BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi claimed a resounding win, calling for followers to give thanks in prayer rather than celebrate on the streets.
“There will be no victory rally despite the BNP’s sweeping victory,” Rizvi said.
Heavy deployments of security forces are posted countrywide, and UN experts warned ahead of the voting of “growing intolerance, threats and attacks” and a “tsunami of disinformation.”
Political clashes killed five people and injured more than 600 during campaigning, police records showed.
However, after a turbulent political period, Bangladesh has seemingly reacted to the result with calm.
Bangladesh interim leader Muhammad Yunus, who would step down once the new government takes power, has urged all to stay calm.
“We may have differences of opinion, but we must remain united in the greater national interest,” he said.
The election had “ended the nightmare and begun a new dream,” Yunus said.
Hasina, who was sentenced to death in absentia for crimes against humanity, issued a statement decrying an “illegal and unconstitutional election.”
Voters also endorsed proposals in a referendum that included prime ministerial term limits, a new upper house of parliament, stronger presidential powers and greater judicial independence, with 60 percent backing the changes.
Crisis Group analyst Thomas Kean said the that incoming government now faced “daunting challenges,” including “boosting the economy, ensuring security and continuing the reform process.”
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