NEW DELHI, India: The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) took a strong lead as early results came in after Thursday’s (Feb 12) parliamentary elections in Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh Election Commission is expected to announce official results today.
The BNP was projected to get a comfortable majority in the 300-member Jatiya Sangsad (national parliament), and its main challenger Jamaat-e-Islami was placed second.
BNP Chairman, Tarique Rahman, was elected from the two seats – Dhaka-17 and Bogura-6 – that he contested, according to unofficial results.
Tarique, 60, the son of former prime minister, Khaleda Zia, and former president, Ziaur Rahman, is poised to be the country’s new premier.
More than 127 million people were eligible to vote and turnout exceeded 60 per cent.
The 13th parliamentary election is being hailed as a new era of democracy in the nation of 175 million after unpopular former prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, was deposed in a mass uprising in August 2024.
Bangladeshis also voted on Thursday in a referendum on a set of constitutional reforms to ensure accountable institutions and good governance.
The “Yes” vote was leading by about 73 per cent.
Jamaat-e-Islami leader, Shafiqur Rahman, said his party will play a constructive role and would not engage in “opposition for the sake of opposition”.
“We don’t want to go back to the old political culture. We want to practise positive politics,” he told reporters at the party office on Thursday night. – BERNAMA
