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This article is part of a series on the |
Politics of Bangladesh |
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General elections are expected to take place in Bangladesh in February 2026, following the removal of Sheikh Hasina's government during the July Revolution in August 2024. [1] The interim government, led by Muhammad Yunus, has established constitutional and election reform commissions for this purpose.
The Awami League won the 2024 general elections following a record low voter turnout and a controversial election. In spite of this, they formed a government. [2] The United States Department of State stated that the election was not free and fair [3] and the United Kingdom's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office termed the election lacking the preconditions of democracy. [4] According to The Economist , through this election, "Bangladesh effectively became a one-party state". [5]
The main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), demanded that the government hand over power to a neutral caretaker government before the January 2024 elections. [6] This was rejected by Hasina, who vowed that "Bangladesh will never allow an unelected government again". [7] Hasina's resistance to a caretaker government arose following the 2006–2008 political crisis, during which a caretaker government assumed military-backed control of the country and arrested a number of political leaders, including Hasina and the former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. [8] Khaleda Zia was sentenced to prison for five years on 8 February 2018, for her involvement in the Zia Orphanage corruption case. [9] The sentence was then modified to 10 years. [10] Zia's successor as chair of the party, her son Tarique Rahman, was also found guilty of criminal conspiracy and multiple counts of murder for a grenade attack in 2004 that injured Hasina and killed 24 people. [11] He was sentenced to life in prison. As such, he was barred from running for office. [12]
In June 2024, student protests erupted throughout the country, demanding the reform of quotas in government jobs. The protests were met with brutal crackdown by law-enforcement agencies and paramilitary forces, resulting in the deaths of many students. By August, the protests intensified into large-scale mass uprising against the government which eventually culminated in Sheikh Hasina's resignation on 5 August. The following day, the 12th Sangsad was dissolved by President Mohammed Shahabuddin. [13] Khaleda Zia was released by the President of Bangladesh following Hasina's resignation. [14]
Following negotiations between student leaders and the Armed Forces, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was appointed as the Chief Adviser to lead an interim government with a view of leading the country to new elections. [15] The student leaders of the protest movement have also formed political groups like National Citizen Party (NCP) and are assumed to participate in the election.
Over time, serious disagreements have arisen over participation of the Awami League in the polls. BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi & Jatiya Party leader GM Quader supported the participation of Awami League in the polls. Bangladesh Army chief Waker-Uz-Zaman had reportedly stated that the participation of a 'refined' Awami League led by leaders with 'clean' image like Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh & Saber Hossain Chowdhury is necessary to ensure that the elections are 'free, fair & inclusive'. [16] However, student agitators placed within the interim government like Mahfuj Alam bitterly opposed the participation of the Awami League in the polls. [17] NCP leader Nahid Islam also voiced his opposition to participation of the Awami League in the polls, unless its leaders are put on trial for the July massacre. He stated that any attempt to relaunch the so-called refined Awami League in the elections amounts to foreign interference. [18] Jamaat-e-Islami Amir Shafiqur Rahman has also expressed his dissent against allowing Awami League participating in the polls. [16]
A petition demanding a ban on the Awami League & its associates of the Grand Alliance filed by the student agitators [19] had been turned down by the Appellate Division. [20] On 9 April 2025, the NCP, the Jamaat-e-Islami & other Islamist organisations like the Hefazat-e-Islam staged a protest in front of the Jamuna guesthouse, the temporary residence of the Chief Adviser, demanding a ban on the Awami League. [21] On the following day, the interim government banned Awami League and all of its activities in cyberspace and elsewhere, under the Anti-Terrorism Act. The ban would last until the International Crimes Tribunal completes the trial of the party and its leaders. [22] [23]
The 350 members of the Jatiya Sangsad consist of 300 directly elected seats using first-past-the-post voting (FPTP) in single-member constituencies, and an additional 50 seats reserved for women. The reserved seats are elected proportionally by the elected members. Each parliament sits for a five-year term. [24]
Unemployment has been a major problem for the Bangladeshi economy, especially affecting the youth. According to a Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics report, Bangladesh's overall youth unemployment rate stood at 4.48% in 2024, which was 4.15% in 2023. [25] [26] In 2024, 87% of the unemployeds were educated, and 21% of them were graduates, showing the lack of job growth needed to accommodate the increasing workforce. [27] A 2024 study found that 55% of the Bangladeshi youth wished to leave the country due to the rising unemployment rate. [28] Unemployment was one of the core factor behind the July Revolution of 2024. [29]
Corruption remains a major issue in the country. Bangladesh ranked 151st out of 180 countries in the Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index in 2024, sliping from 149 in 2023. [30] The issue of corruption took a central stage in election campaigns, with parties like Jamaat-e-Islami regularly spoke against corruption. [31]
Extortionism in the country grew unprecedentedly in the aftermath of the July Revolution. [32] The parties like BNP and NCP (along with it's affiliates SAD, JNC and BaGChhaS) faced heavy criticism for involvement with extortion. [33] The BNP particularly faced backlash for it's leaders involvement in various extortion scandals. [34]
Proportional representation (PR) emerged as a key issue among political parties in the election campaigns. The existing first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral system has been criticised as disproportional [35] [36] [37] and a key driver of political deadlock in the country. [37] Some of the leading minor parties, including National Citizen Party, Jamaat-e-Islami, Islami Andolan Bangladesh, Communist Party of Bangladesh, Gono Odhikar Parishad, Amar Bangladesh Party etc., had been in staunch opposition to the system and in support of PR, where the BNP remains a supporter of FPTP. [38] [39] [40] [41] According to BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, proportional representation may push the country towards autocracy and will "close the opportunity for leadership development at the local level". [42]
A Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik (ShuJonN) opinion poll conducted on 1,373 person between May and July 2025 found that 71% people in the country support PR in the proposed upper house of the Jatiya Sangsad. [43]
For the first time, since the 1991 general election, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has decided to participate the elections on its own, without being in formal/informal alliance with the Jamaat-e-Islami. In August 2024, BNP general secretary Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir confirmed the conclusion of its alliance with the Jamaat-e-Islami. [44] Although, rumours about a restrengthening of BNP-Jamaat alliance resurfaced following Khaleda Zia being visited by the Jamaat leader Shafiqur Rahman in London in April 2025, [45] BNP politicians reiterated the conclusion of alliance between the two. [46]
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The NCP published their "Manifesto of New Bangladesh" on 3 August 2025 at Central Shaheed Minar, Dhaka. Although not a formal electoral manifesto, it outlined their party policies & agenda if they form government. The manifesto promises a new constitution, state recognition of the July Revolution and massacre, minimization of the role of black money in politics, introduction of "whistleblower protection law" and "Village Parliament", dissolution of the RAB, introduction of universal healthcare, increased state funding on STEM education, artificial intelligence and biotechnology research, increase of women reserved seats in the Jatiya Sangsad to 100, recognition of houseworks in the GDP, establishment of a "Permanent Labor Commission", green technology, strong foreign & defence policy and bilateral solutions to the issues like deaths along the Bangladesh–India border, water sharing of transboundary rivers and Rohingya refugee crisis. [47]
The NCP's campaign is heavily concentrated on constituent assembly election and new constitution, which was decided in a party meeting on 13–14 August. Their unofficial slogans include "This time people, want constituent assembly election" and "Solution to Bangladesh, a new constitution". [48]
Poll Event | Schedule |
---|---|
Official declaration from the chief adviser | 5 August 2025 |
Declaration of the schedule | TBD |
Application deadline for candidates | TBD |
Scrutiny of nomination | TBD |
Last Date for Withdrawal of nomination | TBD |
Symbol allocation | TBD |
Start of campaign period | TBD |
End of campaign period | TBD |
Date of Poll | TBD |
Date of Counting of Votes | TBD |
Date of reserved seats Poll | TBD |
In a televised address to the nation, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus declared the general election would be held on any day of the first half of April 2026. [49] The BNP and Jatiya Party opposed holding elections in mid-2026, and demanded that the date be moved forward to December 2025, citing Kalbaisakhi storms and Ramadan. [50] Later on 5 August, Yunus said in a televised broadcast that he would write to the Election Commission to request the election be held in February 2026 before the Ramadan, which will begin as early as 17 February. [51] [52]
Party [53] | Symbol | Flag | Leader | Contesting Seats | |
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Workers Party of Bangladesh | ![]() | Rashed Khan Menon | TBD | ||
Ganatantri Party | ![]() | ![]() | Arosh Ali | TBD | |
Jatiya Party (Manju) | ![]() | ![]() | Anwar Hossain Manju | TBD | |
Bangladesh Tarikat Federation | ![]() | Syed Najibul Bashar Maizbhandari | TBD | ||
Communist Party of Bangladesh (Marxist–Leninist) | ![]() | Dilip Barua | TBD |
Party [54] [55] | Symbol | Flag | Leader | Contesting Seats | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Communist Party of Bangladesh | ![]() | ![]() | Mohammad Shah Alam | TBD | |
Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal | ![]() | Hasanul Haque Inu | TBD | ||
Gano Forum | ![]() | Kamal Hossain | TBD | ||
Bangladesh Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal | Sharif Nurul Ambia | TBD | |||
Socialist Party of Bangladesh | ![]() | Bazlur Rashid Firoz | TBD | ||
Oikya National Awami Party | TBD | ||||
Socialist Party of Bangladesh (Marxist) | Mubinul Haider Chowdhury | TBD | |||
Revolutionary Communist League of Bangladesh | Mosharraf Hossain Nannu | TBD | |||
Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti | ![]() | Shantu Larma | TBD | ||
Ganosanhati Andolan | ![]() | ![]() | Zonayed Saki | TBD | |
Rastro Songskar Andolon | Hasnat Quaiyum | TBD | |||
Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Rab) | ![]() | A. S. M. Abdur Rab | TBD | ||
Revolutionary Workers Party of Bangladesh | ![]() | Khandaker Ali Abbas | TBD | ||
Party | Symbol | Flag | Leader | Contesting Seats | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jatiya Party (Ershad) | ![]() | ![]() | Ghulam Muhammed Quader | TBD | |
Bangladesh Nationalist Party | ![]() | ![]() | Khaleda Zia | TBD | |
Islami Andolan Bangladesh | ![]() | ![]() | Syed Rezaul Karim | TBD | |
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami | ![]() | ![]() | Shafiqur Rahman | TBD | |
National Citizen Party | Nahid Islam | TBD | |||
Bangladesh Jatiya Party | ![]() | Andaleeve Rahman | TBD | ||
Liberal Democratic Party | ![]() | Oli Ahmad | TBD | ||
Zaker Party | Ameer Faisal Mujaddedi | TBD | |||
Trinomool BNP | ![]() | Antara Selima Huda | TBD | ||
Krishak Sramik Janata League | ![]() | ![]() | Abdul Kader Siddique | TBD | |
Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh | ![]() | Mahi B. Chowdhury | TBD | ||
Bangladesh Kalyan Party | ![]() | Syed Muhammad Ibrahim | TBD |
Polling agency | Fieldwork dates | Date published | Sample size | Margin of error | AL | JP(E) | BNP | IAB | Jamaat | NCP | Others | Independents | None | Decided, will not disclose | Undecided | "Can't say"/ No answer | Lead (pp) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BRAC [56] | 1 – 20 July 2025 | 11 Aug 2025 | 5,489 | — | 7.3% | 0.3% | 12% | — | 10.4% | 2.8% | 2.5% | — | — | 14.4% | 48.5% | — | 1.6 |
SANEM [57] | 20 — 31 May 2025 | 7 Jul 2025 | 2,003 [a] | ± 2% | 14.51% | 3.64% | 37.45% | — | 21.72% | 15.3% | 4.99% [b] | — | — | — | — | 3.39% | 16.73 |
All activities of Awami League banned on 10 May 2025 | |||||||||||||||||
Innovision Consulting | 19 Feb — 3 Mar 2025 | 8 Mar 2025 | 10,696 | ± 0.8% | 5.7% | 0.4% | 17% | 1.1% | 12.9% | 2.1% [c] | 1.4% | — | — | 21.3% | 29.4% | 8.6% | 4.1 |
Formation of National Citizen Party (NCP) by the student leaders on 28 February 2025 | |||||||||||||||||
BRAC | 15 — 31 Oct 2024 | 12 Dec 2024 | 4,158 | ± 1.55% | 9% | 1% | 16% | — | 11% | 2% [d] | 9% [e] | — | 2% | — | 38% | 13% | 5 |
Innovision Consulting | 29 Aug — 8 Sep 2024 | 10 Sep 2024 | 5,115 (field) | ± 1.4% | 5% | 1% | 21% | 3% | 14% | 10% | 1% | 3% | 2% | — | 34% | 4% | 7 |
3,581 (online) | ± 1.67% | 10% | 0% | 10% | 1% | 25% | 35% | 1% | 3% | 3% | — | 11% | 0% | 10 | |||
Average | 7.5% | 0.5% | 15.5% | 2% | 19.5% | 22.5% | 1% | 3% | 2.5% | — | 22.5% | 2% | 3 | ||||
2018 general election [f] | 74.96% | 5.22% | 11.73% | 1.47% | — | N/A | 1.76% | N/A | N/A | N/A | 63.23 |
A BBC Bangla report found that artificial intelligence generated misinformations and videos may impact the general election. Started by the Jamaat-e-Islami supporters, it quickly spread among the BNP and the NCP supporters, which shows fake campaign and voter base of the respective party. According to Dhaka University professor Saiful Alam Chowdhury, such "information disorder" risks post-election riots like Brazil in Bangladesh. [58]