The Bangladesh National Party (BNP) has won a two-thirds majority in the general election, according to official figures.
The BNP has surpassed the two-thirds majority with 204 seats; Jamaat received 76 seats, according to an official announcement. The majority mark in the 300-member parliament is 151.
This is the first election after an uprising in 2024 that ousted the regime of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
A referendum proposing electoral and judicial reforms, including a two-term limit for prime ministers, also received a simple majority, according to reports. The final results are yet to be announced.
The BNP, led by Tarique Rahman, has claimed victory. Voting took place for 299 of the 300 seats. A further 50 seats are reserved for women to be named by the parties.
There are 127.7 million registered voters in Bangladesh; 56 million – around 44% of the electorate – are aged 18 to 37. Nearly 5 million are heading to the polls for the first time.
The 15-year reign of Hasina’s party ended in a violent uprising in August 2024, reportedly led by ‘Gen Z’ protesters. Hasina, who fled to neighboring India, has since been sentenced to death by a court in absentia.
The Awami League, which ruled Bangladesh for a quarter of a century, was barred from running by the interim administration, led by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated Rahman on the victory. “I convey my warm congratulations to Mr. Tarique Rahman on leading BNP to a decisive victory in the Parliamentary elections in Bangladesh.” Modi said in a post on X.
The BNP’s main rival, Jamaat-e-Islami, has raised concerns about the vote-counting process following the election in Bangladesh.
“We are not satisfied with the process surrounding the election results,” the party said in a statement, according to AFP, urging everyone to “remain patient.”
The ban on the Awami League effectively left the country with several key political groups vying for power. The Bangladesh National Party (BNP) is headed by Tarique Rahman, the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, Hasina’s bitter rival. The BNP boycotted the 2014 and 2024 elections and rejected the results in 2018. Rahman returned to Bangladesh in December after 17 years in exile in the UK.
The National Citizen Party, carved out of the group that led the anti-Hasina movement in July-August 2024, was allied with Jamaat.