Voters in Bangladesh will vote on Thursday in the country's first elections since the "Generation Z" uprising in August 2024, in which parties and figures that were crushed during the authoritarian rule of Sheikh Hasina will face off against others who are new to the political scene. Voters will choose 300 representatives directly, in addition to 50 women chosen from party lists.
Published on: 02/12/2026 - 08:58 Last updated: 02/12/2026 - 19:02
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Voters in Bangladesh head Thursday to cast their votes and choose their representatives in the country's first elections since the August 2024 uprising.
"Intolerance" and "threats"
More than 300,000 soldiers and police have been deployed across the country, after UN experts warned before the start of voting of increasing waves of "intolerance", "threats" and "misinformation" targeting in particular millions of young people who are voting for the first time.
If the Jamaat-e-Islami-led coalition wins, its leader Shafiqur Rahman may head the first Islamist-led government in constitutionally secular Bangladesh.
However, Shafiqur Rahman warned after casting his vote in Dhaka that his party would challenge any allegations of fraud, warning that “we will not tolerate anyone (...) we will do whatever is required.”
"Free and fair elections"
Opinion polls vary widely, but most give the lead to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, with some indicating that the competition is very close.
The Citizens' Homeland Party, formed by student leaders who led the 2024 uprising and now allied with the Islamic Group, also called for the elections to be fair.
Party leader Nahid Islam said after casting his vote in Dhaka, "We will accept the people's mandate, whatever the result. But the elections must be free and fair."
"Determining the fate of the next generation"
For his part, Nobel Peace Prize holder Muhammad Yunus, who led the country after 15 years of Hasina’s rule, stressed “the importance of this day,” adding that it will determine “the future direction of the country, the nature of its democracy, the extent of its continuity, and the fate of the next generation.”
It is noteworthy that the Yunus government had prevented the Awami League party, to which Hasina belongs, from contesting the elections.
Hasina, 78, who took refuge in neighboring India, was sentenced to death in absentia for crimes against humanity due to the bloody suppression of demonstrators during the final months of her rule.
The 127 million voters will also decide in a referendum whether they will support proposals to limit the prime minister's terms, create a Senate, give the president stronger powers, and increase the independence of the judiciary.
Voters will choose 300 representatives directly, in addition to 50 women chosen from party lists. The manual counting of votes will begin after the polling stations close at 4:30 pm (10:30 GMT).
France 24/AFP
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