The Bangladesh National Party (BNP) won a decisive two-thirds majority on Friday in general elections, a result expected to bring stability after months of tumult following the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a Gen Z-led uprising.

Latest counts in an election seen as the South Asian nation’s first truly competitive in years gave the BNP and its allies at least 212 of the 299 seats up for grabs, domestic TV channels said.

The opposition Jamaat-e-Islami and its allies won 70 seats in the Jatiya Sangsad, or House of the Nation.

The BNP, which returns to power after 20 years, thanked the people soon after winning a majority in the overnight vote count and called for special prayers on Friday for the nation and its people.

“Despite winning … by a large margin of votes, no celebratory procession or rally shall be organised,” the party said in a statement calling for prayers nationwide.

A clear outcome had been seen as key for stability in the Muslim-majority nation of 175 million after months of deadly anti-Hasina unrest disrupted everyday life and industries such as garments, in the export of which Bangladesh is No.2 globally.

BNP leader Tarique Rahman is widely expected to be sworn in as prime minister.

The son of the party’s founder, former president Ziaur Rahman, he returned in December to the capital, Dhaka, from 18 years abroad.

Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus, 85, held office as interim head after Hasina fled to neighbouring India in August 2024.

Now in exile in New Delhi, Hasina long dominated Bangladesh politics along with Rahman’s mother, Khaleda Zia, while his father was a leading independence figure who ruled from 1977 to 1981 before he was assassinated.

Manual counting of paper ballots will run until at least noon on Friday, officials said, since starting on Thursday immediately after polls closed.

The BNP win with more than 200 seats is one of its biggest, surpassing its 2001 victory with 193, although Hasina’s Awami League, which ruled for 15 years and was barred from contesting this time, secured a bigger tally of 230 in 2008.

But bigger tallies for both parties in elections of other years were widely seen as one-sided, boycotted or contentious.

Jamaat promises positive opposition
Nightime throngs of supporters cheered and shouted slogans at the BNP headquarters in Dhaka as the scale of the party’s landslide became clear.

The head of its main rival, the Jamaat-e-Islami, conceded defeat and vowed that his party would not engage in the “politics of opposition” just for the sake of doing so.

“We will do positive politics,” Shafiqur Rahman told reporters.

However, the National Citizen Party (NCP), led by youth activists who played a key role in toppling Hasina and was a part of the Jamaat-led alliance, won just five of the 30 seats it contested.

Turnout appeared on track to exceed the 42% of the last election in 2024, with media saying more than 60% of registered voters were expected to have participated.

More than 2,000 candidates, many independents among them, were on the ballot, which featured a record number of at least 50 parties. Voting in one constituency was postponed after a candidate died.

Broadcaster Jamuna TV said more than 2 million voters chose “Yes”, while more than 850,000 said “No” in a referendum on constitutional reforms held alongside the election, but there was no official word on the outcome.

The changes include two-term limits for prime ministers and stronger judicial independence and women’s representation while providing for neutral interim governments during election periods, and setting up a second house of the 300-seat parliament.

• Votes being counted in Bangladesh election.
• Results expected to be clear by Friday.
• Referendum on constitutional reforms ran in parallel.
  

DHAKA: The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is ahead of Jamaat-e-Islami following heavy voter turnout in a pivotal national election, early counting showed on Thursday.

It was the first vote since the 2024 Gen Z-driven uprising that toppled long‑time premier Sheikh Hasina.

Analysts say a clear outcome is crucial for stability in the nation of 175 million after months of deadly anti‑Hasina unrest disrupted everyday life and hit major industries, including the garment sector, the world’s second largest exporter.

It was also the first national election to follow the recent under-30, Gen Z‑led uprisings that have cropped up through the wider region, with Nepal set to hold a vote next month.

Counting began at 4:30pm (1030 GMT) at most booths, immediately after polls closed with clear trends expected around midnight and results likely to be clear by Friday morning, Election Commission officials said.

Contest between former allies

The race pits two coalitions led by former allies, BNP and Jamaat, with opinion polls giving the BNP a slight edge.

BNP was leading in 50 seats and Jamaat in 18, local TV news stations said. Bangladesh’s parliament, the Jatiya Sangsad, has 300 seats, with 151 required for a simple majority.

The party declared on its official Facebook page that its chief and prime ministerial candidate, Tarique Rahman, had won one of the two seats he contested. Election authorities were yet to announce the result officially, however.

BNP members clapped and cheered loudly as they celebrated outside the party office in Dhaka on hearing the news of his victory, visuals on the Facebook page showed.

Turnout appeared on track to exceed the 42% recorded in the last election in 2024. Local media reported that more than 60% of registered voters were expected to have cast ballots.

Hasina calls vote a farce 

Hasina’s Awami League is banned, and she remains in self‑imposed exile in long-term ally India, opening the window for China to expand its influence in Bangladesh as Dhaka’s ties with New Delhi fray.

Elections under Hasina were frequently marred by boycotts and intimidation, critics say.

In a statement sent to journalists on WhatsApp, Hasina denounced the election as a “carefully planned farce”, held without her party and without real voter participation. She said Awami League supporters had rejected the process.

“We demand the cancellation of this voterless, illegal, and unconstitutional election … the removal of the suspension imposed on the activities of the Awami League; and the restoration of the people’s voting rights through the arrangement of a free, fair, and inclusive election under a neutral caretaker government,” she said.

Alongside the election, a referendum was held on a set of constitutional reforms, including establishing a neutral interim government for election periods, restructuring parliament into a bicameral legislature, increasing women’s representation, strengthening judicial independence and a two-term limit for the prime minister.

More than 2,000 candidates – including many independents -were on the ballot, and at least 50 parties contested, a national record. Voting in one constituency was postponed after a candidate died.

Long lines of voters, heavy security  

There were no reports of major violence.

Around 958,000 personnel from the police, army and paramilitary forces were deployed throughout the country, the Election Commission said. Police and army personnel were stationed outside most polling booths.

“I am feeling excited because we are voting in a free manner after 17 years,” Mohammed Jobair Hossain, 39, said as he waited in line. “Our votes will matter and have meaning.”

Many voters echoed that sentiment, telling Reuters that the atmosphere felt freer and more festive than previous elections.

Kamal Chowdhury, 31, who works as a driver for a company in Dhaka and travelled to his hometown in the eastern district of Brahmanbaria to cast his vote, said: “It feels festive here.”

Outside a polling booth in Dhaka where BNP chief Tarique Rahman and head of the interim government Muhammad Yunus voted, policemen were on horses with saddle blankets proclaiming: “Police are here, vote without fear.”

• Kim’s daughter providing input on policy matters: lawmakers.
• NIS had described Kim Ju Ae as being “in study as successor”.
• Ju Ae increasingly prominently featured in N Korea’s state media.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appears to be taking steps to consolidate his daughter’s position as successor, and there are signs she is providing input on policy matters, South Korean lawmakers said on Thursday, citing a spy agency briefing.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Agency (NIS) will be closely watching whether the daughter, believed to be named Kim Ju Ae, attends an upcoming meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party and how she is presented, including whether she takes on any official title, the lawmakers said.

“In the past, the NIS described Kim Ju Ae as being ‘in study as successor’ but today the expression used was that she ‘was in the stage of being internally appointed successor’,” lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun told reporters following a closed-door briefing from the NIS.

Ju Ae, who is believed to be in her early teens, has been increasingly prominently featured in North Korea’s state media accompanying her father on field guidance including inspections of weapons projects amid speculation by analysts that she is being groomed as the country’s fourth-generation leader.

The NIS believes the role she has taken on during public events indicates she has started to provide policy input and that she is being treated as the de facto second-highest leader, Lee and another lawmaker Park Sun-won said.

North Korea has announced the Workers’ Party will convene the inauguration meeting of the ninth Congress in late February, an event that analysts believe will unveil major policy goals for coming years on the economy, external affairs and defence.

Leader Kim Jong Un is directing the development of a large submarine that is likely capable of carrying up to 10 submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) and which, considering the vessel’s displacement of 8,700 tons, may be designed to be powered by a nuclear reactor, Park and Lee said.

It remains unclear, however, whether it will be nuclear powered or operationally functional as designed, the lawmakers said, citing the spy agency’s analysis.