Politics
Bangladesh votes in world’s first Gen Z-inspired election
- Bangladesh faces its most competitive vote since 2009.
- Ousted PM Hasina’s Awami League party banned.
- BNP, Jamaat in close race with big economic, geopolitical stakes.
DHAKA: For years under former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s opposition had little presence on the streets during elections, either boycotting polls or being sidelined by mass arrests of senior leaders. Now, ahead of Thursday’s vote, the roles have reversed.
Hasina’s Awami League is banned, but many young people who helped oust her government in a 2024 uprising say the upcoming vote will be the Muslim-majority nation’s first competitive election since 2009, when she began a 15-year-rule.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is widely expected to win, although a coalition led by the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami is putting up a strong challenge. A new party driven by Gen-Z activists under the age of 30 has aligned with Jamaat after failing to translate its anti-Hasina street mobilisation into an electoral base.
BNP chief Tarique Rahman told Reuters his party, which is contesting 292 of the 300 parliamentary seats at stake, was confident of winning “enough to form a government”.
Analysts say a decisive result in the February 12 vote, instead of a fractured outcome, is vital for restoring stability in the nation of 175 million after Hasina’s ouster triggered months of unrest and disrupted major industries, including the garments sector in the world’s second‑largest exporter.
The verdict will also affect the roles of rival regional heavyweights China and India in the South Asian nation.
“Opinion polls suggest the BNP has an edge, but we must remember that a significant portion of voters are still undecided,” said Parvez Karim Abbasi, executive director at Dhaka’s Centre for Governance Studies.
“Several factors will shape the outcome, including how Generation Z – which makes up about a quarter of the electorate – votes, as their choices will carry considerable weight.”
Across Bangladesh, black‑and‑white posters and banners bearing the BNP’s “sheaf of paddy” symbol and Jamaat’s “scales” hang from poles and trees and are pasted on roadside walls, alongside those of several independent candidates. Party shacks on street corners, draped in their emblems, blare campaign songs.
It marks a sharp contrast with past elections, when the Awami League’s “boat” symbol dominated the landscape.
Opinion polls expect the once-banned Jamaat to have its best electoral performance even if it does not win.
China’s influence increases as India’s wanes
The election verdict will also influence the roles of China and India in Bangladesh in the coming years, analysts have said. Beijing has increased its standing in Bangladesh since Hasina was seen as pro-India and fled to New Delhi after her ouster, where she remains.
While New Delhi’s influence is on the wane, the BNP is seen by some analysts as being relatively more in tune with India than the Jamaat.
A Jamaat-led government might tilt closer to Pakistan, a fellow Muslim‑majority nation and a long‑standing rival of Hindu‑majority India, analysts say. Also, Jamaat’s Gen-Z ally has said “New Delhi’s hegemony” in Bangladesh is one of its main concerns, and its leaders met Chinese diplomats recently.
Jamaat, which calls for a society governed by Islamic principles, has said the party is not inclined towards any country.
BNP’s Rahman has said that if his party formed the government, it would have friendly relations with any nation that “offers what is suitable for my people and my country”.
Bangladesh, one of the world’s most densely populated countries with high rates of extreme poverty, has been hit by high inflation, weakening reserves and slowing investment, which has pushed it to seek large-scale external financing since 2022, including billions of dollars from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Corruption is the biggest concern among the 128 million voters, followed by inflation, according to a survey by Dhaka-based think tanks Communication & Research Foundation and Bangladesh Election and Public Opinion Studies.
Analysts say Jamaat’s clean image is a factor in its favour, much more than its Islamic leanings.
“Voters report high intention to participate, prioritise corruption and economic concerns over religious or symbolic issues, and express clear expectations for leaders who demonstrate care, competence and accountability,” said the survey.
Nevertheless, BNP’s Rahman, son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, is seen as the frontrunner to lead the next government. But if the Jamaat-led coalition emerges ahead, its chair, Shafiqur Rahman, could be in line for the top job.
Mohammad Rakib, 21, who is set to vote for the first time, said he hoped the next government would allow people to express their views and exercise their franchise freely.
“Everyone was tired of (Hasina’s) Awami League. People couldn’t even vote during national elections. People had no voice,” he said. “I hope the next government, whoever comes into power, will ensure this freedom of expression.”
- Agreement “focuses on integrated systems, data analysis tools”.
- Saudi Arabia, Ukraine sign MoU on defence procurement: SPA.
- Zelensky meets Crown Prince MBS, confirms defence arrangement.
Ukraine and Saudi Arabia have signed an air defence agreement during President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the kingdom facing Iranian drone attacks, two senior officials told AFP on Friday.
Kyiv has sought to leverage its expertise in downing Russian drones to help Gulf nations, which are being attacked with the same kind of Iranian-designed Shahed drones that Russia fires on Ukraine.
“The point of the agreement is that Ukraine will support them in developing all the necessary components of air defence, which they currently lack,” one official said of the document which, according to another was signed on Thursday.
Both spoke to AFP on the condition of anonymity.
Kyiv has been using a mix of cheap drone interceptors, electronic jamming tools and anti-aircraft guns to down Russian drones fired at its cities on a nightly basis for four years.
It touts its anti-drone defences as the best in the world.
Ukraine has proposed swapping its interceptors for vastly more expensive air-defence missiles that Gulf countries are using to down Iranian drones. Ukraine says it needs more of them to fend off Russian missile attacks.
The deal signed between Ukraine and Saudi Arabia “is not only about interceptors as such, but about building a system, integrating it with other air defence components, Ukrainian experience in its use, AI, and all the other elements of data analysis needed to counter Shaheds and other drones,” one of the officials said.
Zelensky confirmed on social media that both countries had “reached an important arrangement” on defence cooperation and that he had met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his visit.
“We are ready to share our expertise and systems with Saudi Arabia,” Zelensky said, adding: “Saudi Arabia also has capabilities that are of interest to Ukraine, and this cooperation can be mutually beneficial.”
He did not disclose what exactly has been agreed as part of the deal.
Zelensky also met Ukrainian anti-drone experts that have been deployed to the country since US and Israel launched strikes on Iran that spurred retaliatory drone and missile attacks from Tehran.
“Even in such a short time, Ukrainian experts were able to share extensive expertise,” Zelensky said.
“Ukraine’s expertise is unique, and recognised as such, and that is why everyone is so interested in our technologies and experience.”
MoU on defence procurement
The Saudi Ministry of Defence and its Ukrainian counterpart have signed a memorandum of understanding related to defence procurement arrangements in Jeddah, Saudi state news agency SPA reported.
Saudi Assistant Minister of Defence for Executive Affairs Dr Khaled Al-Biyari and Ukrainian Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Lieutenant General Andrii Hnatov signed the agreement, it added.
- India’s military spending reaches $71 billion this fiscal year.
- India’s defence spending highest ever in a fiscal year.
- India ranks as second-largest arms importer globally.
NEW DELHI: India approved proposals worth $25 billion on Friday to buy transport aircraft, Russian S-400 missile systems and remotely piloted strike aircraft as it pushes its military modernisation and replenishes equipment after its conflict with Pakistan.
The decision comes on the back of another major approval last month worth $40 billion to purchase more French Rafale fighter jets for the air force and Boeing P-8I reconnaissance aircraft for the navy.
Friday’s approvals also covered purchases of armoured piercing tank ammunition, gun systems and aerial surveillance systems for the army, increasing the life of the Sukhoi-30 fighter jets operated by the air force, and hovercraft for the coastguard, a statement from the defence ministry said.
Separately, the ministry also signed a 4.45 billion rupees ($47 million) contract on Friday with Russia’s JSC Rosoboronexport to acquire Tunguska air defence missile systems for the army.
In all, India has approved 55 proposals worth 6.73 trillion rupees ($71 billion) and signed contracts for another 503 proposals amounting to 2.28 trillion rupees in the fiscal year ending March 31, the statement said, adding that both were the highest in a fiscal year.
India is the world’s fifth-largest military spender and the second-largest arms importer after Ukraine, according to latest data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
It has for decades been modernising its mostly Soviet-era equipment and increasingly looking to new sources including France, Israel, the United States and Germany. In recent years, it has pushed to manufacture everything from guns and drones to fighter jets and submarines at home, either on its own or in collaboration with foreign partners.
Ukraine and Saudi Arabia have signed an air defence agreement during President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the kingdom, which is facing Iranian drone attacks, two senior officials told AFP on Friday.
Kyiv has sought to leverage its expertise in downing Russian drones to help Gulf nations, which are being attacked with the same kind of Iranian-designed Shahed drones that Russia fires on Ukraine.
“The point of the agreement is that Ukraine will support them in developing all the necessary components of air defence, which they currently lack,” one official said of the document which, according to another was signed on Thursday.
Both spoke to AFP on the condition of anonymity.
Kyiv has been using a mix of cheap drone interceptors, electronic jamming tools and anti-aircraft guns to down Russian drones fired at its cities on a nightly basis for four years.
It touts its anti-drone defences as the best in the world.
Ukraine has proposed swapping its interceptors for vastly more expensive air-defence missiles that Gulf countries are using to down Iranian drones.
Ukraine says it needs more of them to fend off Russian missile attacks.
The deal signed between Ukraine and Saudi Arabia “is not only about interceptors as such, but about building a system, integrating it with other air defence components, Ukrainian experience in its use, AI, and all the other elements of data analysis needed to counter Shaheds and other drones,” one of the officials said.
Zelensky confirmed on social media that both countries had “reached an important arrangement” on defence cooperation and that he had met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his visit.
“We are ready to share our expertise and systems with Saudi Arabia,” Zelensky said, adding: “Saudi Arabia also has capabilities that are of interest to Ukraine, and this cooperation can be mutually beneficial.” He did not disclose what exactly had been agreed as part of the deal.
Zelensky also met with Ukrainian anti-drone experts who have been deployed to the country since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran that spurred retaliatory drone and missile attacks from Tehran.
“Even in such a short time, Ukrainian experts were able to share extensive expertise,” Zelensky said.
“Ukraine’s expertise is unique, and recognised as such, and that is why everyone is so interested in our technologies and experience.”
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