The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by Tarique Rahman, won a landslide victory in the first elections held since the bloody 2024 uprising and the fall of autocrat Sheikh Hasina. He obtained a majority of more than two-thirds in the national Parliament, as reported this Friday, February 13, by the Electoral Commission. BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi proclaimed a "landslide victory".

First modification: 02/13/2026 - 14:05 Last modification: 02/13/2026 - 14:16

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) won an unquestionable victory this Friday, February 13, in the first elections held since the bloody uprising of 2024. Its leader, Tarique Rahman, is preparing to become prime minister.

The BNP obtained a majority of more than two-thirds of the seats in the parliamentary elections, as reported this Friday by the Electoral Commission, whose figures indicate that the BNP has 212 seats, compared to the 77 of the Islamist alliance Jamaat-e-Islami, the principal secretary of the commission, Akhtar Ahmed, told the press.

Furthermore, 60% of voters supported a referendum on a broad democratic charter. With this, they finally support the proposals to limit the mandate of the prime minister, create a new upper house of Parliament, strengthen presidential powers and increase judicial independence.

Participation in the elections was 59%.

"We will face increasing challenges to build a country free of discrimination"

Rahman had told the AFP news agency two days before the election that he was "confident" his party, persecuted during 15 years of autocratic rule by ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, would regain power in the South Asian nation of 170 million people.

"This victory was expected. It is not surprising that the people of Bangladesh have placed their trust in a party... capable of realizing the dreams that our youth imagined during the uprising," said Salahuddin Ahmed, a senior BNP committee member, after local media predicted the party's victory.

"This is not the time to celebrate, as we will face increasing challenges to build a country free of discrimination," he added.

To display this YouTube content, you must allow advertising and audience measurement cookies.

An extension on your browser appears to be blocking the video player from loading. In order to view this content, you must disable it on this site.

BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi had earlier asked his followers to pray in gratitude instead of celebrating on the streets.

"There will be no victory rally, despite the BNP's landslide victory (...) We will call for special prayers in mosques after Jumma (Friday) prayers across the country," the party said in a statement, published before the official results.

Read alsoBangladesh votes in historic elections after the deadly 2024 uprising

Peaceful elections

The political party workers spent the entire night in front of the BNP offices. "We will join the nation-building effort led by Tarique Rahman," Md Fazlur Rahman told AFP.

"Over the last 17 years, we have suffered a lot, we have faced multiple cases for political reasons and I have lost a factory that I owned," the 45-year-old explained.

A robust security force scheme has been deployed across the country, after UN experts warned ahead of the election of "growing intolerance, threats and attacks", and a "tsunami of disinformation".

Political clashes caused five deaths and more than 600 injuries during the campaign, according to police records.

However, election day passed largely peacefully, according to the Electoral Commission, which only reported "some minor disturbances."

Read alsoViolent protests in Bangladesh after murder of youth leader

"The nightmare is over"

Interim leader Muhammad Yunus, who will step down once the new government takes power, has urged all parties to remain calm. "We may have differences of opinion, but we must remain united for the common good of the country," he stressed.

The 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner has led Bangladesh since Hasina's mandate ended with her dismissal in August 2024. Her administration banned her party, the Awami League, from running in the elections.

After casting his vote, Yunus said that the country had "ended the nightmare and begun a new dream."

Hasina, 78, sentenced to death in absentia for crimes against humanity, issued a statement from her hiding place in India, in which she described the democratic day as "illegal and unconstitutional elections."

Yunus has advocated a broad democratic reform charter to overhaul what he called a "completely broken" system of government and prevent a return to one-party rule.

With AFP

This article was adapted from its original English version

Related keywords

The content you requested does not exist or is no longer available.