Bangladesh Schedules First Post-Uprising Election For February 12

(MENAFN- Colombo Gazette) Bangladesh will hold its first parliamentary election since last year's student-led uprising on February 12, according to an announcement by the Election Commission. The vote comes after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India and an interim administration headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus took charge.

The country remains tense ahead of the polls, with ongoing protests over delayed reforms and warnings of unrest from Hasina's party, which has been barred from contesting. Reflecting growing political friction, President Mohammed Shahabuddin, appointed during Hasina's tenure, said he will resign after the election, calling his time under the Yunus-led administration“humiliating.”

About 128 million voters are expected to cast their ballots across more than 42,000 polling stations. The general election will take place alongside a national referendum on the“July Charter,” a sweeping state reform blueprint introduced after the uprising. The proposed reforms include reducing executive powers, strengthening judicial and electoral independence, and limiting the misuse of law-enforcement agencies.

Yunus welcomed the election schedule, calling it a key step in Bangladesh's democratic transition. Former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is seen as the frontrunner, with the Jamaat-e-Islami party re-entering electoral politics after previous restrictions were lifted. The National Citizen Party, formed by student leaders of the 2024 uprising, is considered an underdog as it works to translate its street movement into electoral influence.

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