The South Asian country views the voting on February 12 as a major test for democracy. Election campaigning has begun in Bangladesh as the country prepares to hold the first national elections since the 2024 uprising that ousted long-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Major political parties held campaign rallies in the capital, Dhaka, on Thursday ahead of voting on February 12.
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The interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus has promised to hold free and fair elections, considered the most consequential in the history of Bangladesh.
The South Asian nation of about 170 million people will elect 350 lawmakers and decide on proposed political reforms. EU election observers say the vote will be “the largest democratic process in 2026.”
Yunus, 85, who has helped lift millions out of poverty through Grameen Bank and is known as the “banker for the poor,” said he had inherited a “completely broken” political system.
He returned from exile in August 2024 to lead a caretaker government as a “chief adviser” at the behest of protesters but has pledged to step down after the election.
His interim government supported a reform charter, which Yunus argued was vital to prevent a return to authoritarian rule, with a referendum on changes to be held on the same day as voting.
The July National Charter, named after the rebellion that began in July 2024 and led to Hasina’s downfall, includes giving more powers to the presidency to balance the position of a powerful prime minister. It also proposes limits on MLA tenure and measures to prevent conflicts of interest, money laundering, and corruption.
It was signed last year by 25 of the country’s 52 registered political parties, but supporters say it needs a referendum to make it legally binding and part of the constitution.
Hasina, 78, was sentenced to death in absentia in November for crimes against humanity over a deadly crackdown on protesters in a failed attempt to cling to power and is in hiding in India.
Parties held rallies amid claims of propaganda
The Awami League party, formerly led by Hasina, has been barred from participating in the election after the country’s Election Commission suspended its registration in May.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) president and son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, Tariq Rahman, is widely seen as a leading contender for the post of Prime Minister. He launched his campaign in the northeastern city of Sylhet on Thursday and is scheduled to visit several other districts in the coming days.
Thousands of supporters rallied in Sylhet, raising slogans in his name.
“Do we have a leader? Yes, we do,” shouted BNP loyalists. Rahman had returned to Bangladesh only in December after 17 years of exile.
“She will carry on the legacy of her parents,” Harun Ur Rashid, 40, told AFP news agency, referring to Zia and her husband, former President Ziaur Rehman, who was assassinated in 1981.
The Jamaat-e-Islami party, leading the 10-party alliance, is also striving to expand its influence. If the Jamaat-led alliance is able to emerge victorious, it would be a dramatic turnaround for the party, which was the victim of 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 has one of the largest Muslim-majority populations in the world.
“We want something new, and the new option is Jamaat,” Mohammad Jalal, 40, told Reuters, a news agency, while attending a party rally in Dhaka. “He has a clean image and works for the country.”
Earlier this month, Yunus said he was “concerned” about the impact of the increase in disinformation, blaming both “foreign media and local sources.”.
“They have flooded social media with fake news, rumours and speculation,” Yunus said.
He did not clarify which foreign forces he believed were behind the disinformation, but relations with neighbouring India soured when Hasina fled to her old ally New Delhi as protesters stormed her palace.
