Bangladesh’s election campaign is underway as it prepares for its first national elections since the uprising in 2024, when Sheikh Hasina was ousted.
Prior to the February 12 election, the major political parties held campaign rallies in the capital, Dhaka.
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The interim administration, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, has pledged to hold the elections, which are regarded as the most important in Bangladesh’s history.
The roughly 170 million-strong South Asian nation will elect 350 legislators and choose the most recent political changes. According to election observers in the European Union, the vote will be the “biggest democratic process in 2026.”
Yunus, the 85-year-old who helped millions of people out of poverty through his Grameen Bank, described himself as the “banker, to the poor” and claimed to have inherited a “completely broken” political system.
He left exile in August 2024 at the protesters’ request to become the “chief adviser” in charge of a caretaker government, but he has pledged to do so after the elections.
A referendum on the changes to be held on the same day as polling was promoted by Yunus’ interim government, which he claimed was necessary to stop a return to authoritarian rule.
The presidency has more authority to balance what had been a powerful prime minister’s position, according to the July National Charter, which was named in honor of the uprising that started in July of 2024 and led to Hasina’s fall. Additionally, it recommends measures to stop money laundering, corruption, and conflict of interest prevention.
25 of the country’s 52 registered political parties voted in favor of signing it last year, but its supporters claim a referendum is required to make it legally binding and a part of the constitution.
Hasina, 78, is still hiding in India after being sentenced to death in absentia in November for crimes against humanity.
After the country’s Election , Commission suspended its registration in May, the Awami League party, which was formerly led by Hasina, was prohibited from running in the election.
A leading candidate for prime minister is Tarique Rahman, the head of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Khaleda Zia’s son. He will be launching his campaign on Thursday in Sylhet, a city in the northeast, and will be traveling to several other areas in the coming days.
In Sylhet, tens of thousands of supporters gathered to chant his name.
“Do we have a leader? Yes, we do”, BNP loyalists shouted. Rahman only returned to Bangladesh in December after 17 years in exile.
“He will carry forward the legacy of his parents”, Harun Ur Rashid, 40, told the AFP news agency, referring to Zia and her husband, former president Ziaur Rahman, who was assassinated in 1981.
A 10-party alliance led by the Jamaat-e-Islami party is also seeking to expand its influence. If the Jamaat-led alliance is able to emerge victorious, it will be a dramatic turnaround for a party that was subjected to a brutal crackdown during Hasina’s 15-year government.
Jamaat-e-Islami has long faced criticism from secular groups who say its positions challenge Bangladesh’s secular foundations. The country is home to one of the world’s largest Muslim-majority populations.
“We want something new and the new option is Jamaat”, Mohammad Jalal, 40, told the Reuters news agency as he attended the party’s rally in Dhaka. “They have a clean image and work for the country”.
Earlier this month, Yunus said he was “concerned” about the impact of a surge of disinformation, blaming both “foreign media and local sources”.
“They have flooded social media with fake news, rumours and speculation”, Yunus said.
