Hello and welcome to the details of Inside Bangladesh’s next election: Banned parties, student uprising, and reform hopes and now with the details
Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - A man watches Chief Election Commissioner A. M. M. Nasir Uddin's address on mobile in Dhaka on December 11, 2025, during the announcement of the parliamentary elections and the July National Charter referendum. — AFP pic
DHAKA, Dec 13 — Bangladesh is set to hold general elections on February 12, the first parliamentary polls since a student-led uprising toppled the autocratic rule of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina last year.
The Election Commission announced on Thursday the date for the polls, when Bangladesh will also vote in a referendum to approve a landmark democratic reform charter.
The Muslim-majority country of 170 million will choose 300 lawmakers for its unicameral parliament, the Jatiya Sangsad, but without the former ruling party of Hasina taking part.
The last elections, held in January 2024, gave Hasina a fourth straight term and her now-banned Awami League party 222 seats, but were decried by opposition parties as a sham.
In numbers
Voters will elect lawmakers in 300 constituencies.
An additional 50 seats are reserved for women, allocated to political parties in proportion to the number of seats each wins.
There are some 127 million registered voters, nearly equally men and women, and including more than four million first-time voters, according to the Election Commission.
For the first time, expatriate Bangladeshis will take part, casting their ballots in advance.
There are more than 290,000 registered voters abroad, many in Saudi Arabia and Gulf countries as well as the US.
Key parties
The country's politics has long been dominated by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Awami League, which alternated in power from 1991 to 2008.
But the activities of Hasina's Awami League have been suspended, although party loyalists may contest as independent candidates.
Other key players include the largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, and the Jatiya Party, a former Hasina ally.
Also vying for seats is the National Citizens Party, formed by the students who spearheaded the protests against Hasina.
Bangladesh police personnel stand guard outside the Election Commission’s office in Dhaka on December 11, 2025, ahead of the announcement of the parliamentary elections and the July National Charter referendum. — AFP pic
Frontrunners
Opinion polls in Bangladeshi media vary wildly, but the BNP is seen as a frontrunner, with Jamaat trailing.
A survey by the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development in August suggested that nearly half of prospective voters were undecided.
“It is unpredictable,” said Altaf Parvez, a veteran political analyst, predicting that “faith-based political parties will perform well”.
The BNP says it wants to forge a “rainbow nation” away from politics of revenge, while Jamaat wants a society based on religious principles.
Jamaat struggled to win wider popular support in past elections because of its backing of Islamabad during the 1971 liberation war from Pakistan.
But after years being crushed under Hasina, support for Islamists has been growing, analysts say.
Referendum
Interim leader Muhammad Yunus said he had inherited a “completely broken down” political system after taking over following the uprising last year.
The 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate has argued that the proposed reform charter, which he has championed as the cornerstone of his legacy, is vital to prevent a return to authoritarian rule.
The reform plan will strengthen checks and balances between the executive, judicial and legislative branches, proposes a two-term limit for prime ministers and expands presidential powers.
Tensions
Yunus insists all will be calm, with the army and other security forces to be deployed in large numbers throughout the election period.
But tensions are high as parties gear up for the polls, and the country remains volatile.
The Election Commission has approved 66 local organisations to observe the polls, with teams of foreign observers also expected. — AFP
These were the details of the news Inside Bangladesh’s next election: Banned parties, student uprising, and reform hopes for this day. We hope that we have succeeded by giving you the full details and information. To follow all our news, you can subscribe to the alerts system or to one of our different systems to provide you with all that is new.
It is also worth noting that the original news has been published and is available at Malay Mail and the editorial team at AlKhaleej Today has confirmed it and it has been modified, and it may have been completely transferred or quoted from it and you can read and follow this news from its main source.
