Bangladesh has been in political turmoil since a student-led revolt overthrew former prime minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024, ending her 15-year autocratic rule.

The Muslim-majority nation of 170 million people will hold its first elections since the uprising on February 12.

Here are the key players in a vote that European Union election observers say will be the “biggest democratic process of 2026, anywhere”.

Interim government

Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, 85, returned from exile in August 2024 at the behest of protesters to lead a caretaker government as “chief advisor”. He will step down after the polls.

Yunus said he inherited a “completely broken” political system, and championed a reform charter he argues is vital to prevent a return to authoritarian rule.

A referendum on the proposed changes will be held on the same day. He says the reforms will strengthen checks and balances between the executive, judicial and legislative branches.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) 

The BNP, led by Tarique Rahman, 60, is widely tipped to win the election, after he returned from 17 years of self-imposed exile in December 2025.

His mother, the BNP´s veteran leader and former prime minister Khaleda Zia, died aged 80, days after his return.

A BNP-led alliance includes both leftist and centrist parties, as well as small Islamist groups.

Islamist-led alliance

Jamaat-e-Islami, the country’s largest and best-organised Islamist party, ideologically aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood, is seeking a return to formal politics after years of bans and crackdowns under Hasina’s 15-year rule.

Jamaat is leading an alliance of more than 10 smaller parties, including the National Citizen Party (NCP), formed by student leaders who spearheaded the uprising.

It also includes the small Liberal Democratic Party, as well as fringe Islamist parties, most of which held only a handful of seats in previous parliaments.

Bangladesh — one of the world’s most populous Muslim-majority countries after Indonesia and Pakistan — is home to diverse strands of Islamic practice, including a significant Sufi community often condemned by hardline Islamists.

Around 10% of Bangladeshis are not Muslim — the majority of those are Hindu and the country is also home to a small number of Christians.

Awami League

Hasina, 78, a fugitive in India, was sentenced to death in absentia for crimes against humanity in November.

Her former ruling Awami League, once the country´s most popular party, has been outlawed.

Loyalists may run as independent candidates, but it is unclear who the party’s once sizable membership will back.

Human Rights Watch condemned the ban as “draconian”, while Hasina has warned that holding elections without her party would be “sowing the seeds” of further division.

Army

In a country with a long history of military coups, the army remains a pivotal force.

It played a decisive factor in Hasina’s downfall, choosing not to intervene against the protests.

The military continues to patrol the streets, maintaining a visible presence alongside the police.

International players

Regional powers have taken a keen interest.

Bangladesh’s relations with India — once Hasina´s strongest ally — have cooled.

Yunus’ first state visit was to China, signalling a strategic shift, while Dhaka has also deepened engagement with Pakistan, India’s arch-rival.

• Trump to meet senior advisers on Tuesday to discuss Iran options.
• Iranian govt declares three days of national mourning for “martyrs”.
• Iran warns it will strike US military and shipping targets if attacked.
  

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he was considering potential military action against Iran, amid mounting reports of deadly crackdowns against the country’s mass anti-government protests.

“They’re starting to, it looks like,” Trump said, when asked by reporters aboard Air Force One if Iran had crossed his previously stated red line of protesters being killed.

“We’re looking at it very seriously. The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options. We’ll make a determination,” he said.

He also said that Iran’s leadership had called seeking “to negotiate” after his threats of military action amid mass anti-government protests in the Islamic republic.

“The leaders of Iran called” yesterday, Trump said, adding that “a meeting is being set up… They want to negotiate.”

However, Trump added that “we may have to act before a meeting.”

Trump to meet senior advisers

Trump was to meet with senior advisers on Tuesday to discuss options for Iran, a US official told Reuters on Sunday.

The Wall Street Journal had reported that options included military strikes, using secret cyber weapons, widening sanctions and providing online help to anti-government sources.

Earlier, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf warned Washington against “a miscalculation.”

“Let us be clear: in the case of an attack on Iran, the occupied territories (Israel) as well as all US bases and ships will be our legitimate target,” said Qalibaf, a former commander in Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards.

Iranian president calls for ‘national resistance march’

The Iranian government declared three days of national mourning for “martyrs” including members of the security forces killed in two weeks of protests, state television reported on Sunday.

The government described the fight against what it has termed “riots” as an “Iranian national resistance battle against America and the Zionist regime”, using the clerical leadership’s term for Israel, which the Islamic republic does not recognise.

President Masoud Pezeshkian urged people to take part in a “national resistance march” of nationwide rallies on Monday to denounce the violence, which the government said was committed by “urban terrorist criminals”, state television reported.

The protests, initially sparked by anger over the rising cost of living, have evolved into a movement against the theocratic system in place in Iran since the 1979 revolution. They have already lasted two weeks.

The protests have become one of the biggest challenges to the rule of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, coming in the wake of Israel’s 12-day war against the Islamic republic in June, which was backed by the United States.

Protests have swelled in recent days despite an internet blackout that has lasted more than 72 hours, according to monitor Netblocks. Activists have warned that the shutdown is limiting the flow of information and that the actual toll risks being far higher.

• Rights group reports over 500 deaths during two-week unrest.
• Internet blackout continues, limiting information flow across Iran.
• Iran summons UK envoy to foreign ministry over embassy protest.

The Iranian government on Sunday declared three days of national mourning for “martyrs” including members of the security forces killed in two weeks of protests, state television said.

The government described the fight against what it has termed “riots” as an “Iranian national resistance battle against America and the Zionist regime”, using the clerical leadership’s term for Israel, which the Islamic republic does not recognise.

President Masoud Pezeshkian urged people to take part in a “national resistance march” of nationwide rallies on Monday to denounce the violence, which the government said was committed by “urban terrorist criminals”, state television reported.

The protests, initially sparked by anger over the rising cost of living, have evolved into a movement against the theocratic system in place in Iran since the 1979 revolution. They have already lasted two weeks.

The protests have become one of the biggest challenges to the rule of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, coming in the wake of Israel’s 12-day war against the Islamic republic in June, which was backed by the United States.

Protests have swelled in recent days despite an internet blackout that has lasted more than 72 hours, according to monitor Netblocks. Activists have warned that the shutdown is limiting the flow of information and that the actual toll risks being far higher.

Death toll reaches 500: rights group

Unrest in Iran has killed more than 500 people, a rights group said on Sunday, as Tehran threatened to target US military bases if President Donald Trump carries out threats to intervene on behalf of protesters.

With the Islamic Republic’s clerical establishment facing the biggest demonstrations since 2022, Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene if force is used on protesters.

According to its latest figures — from activists inside and outside Iran — US-based rights group HRANA said it had verified the deaths of 490 protesters and 48 security personnel, with more than 10,600 people arrested in two weeks of unrest.

Iran has not given an official toll and Reuters was unable to independently verify the tolls.

Trump to meet senior advisers

Trump was to meet with senior advisers on Tuesday to discuss options for Iran, a US official told Reuters on Sunday. The Wall Street Journal had reported that options included military strikes, using secret cyber weapons, widening sanctions and providing online help to anti-government sources.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf warned Washington against “a miscalculation.”

“Let us be clear: in the case of an attack on Iran, the occupied territories (Israel) as well as all US bases and ships will be our legitimate target,” said Qalibaf, a former commander in Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards.

The flow of information from Iran has been hampered by an internet blackout since Thursday.

Iran’s unrest comes as Trump flexes US muscles internationally, having ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, and discussing acquiring Greenland by purchase or force.

Iranian President Pezeshkian said Israel and the US were masterminding destabilisation and that Iran’s enemies had brought in “terrorists … who set mosques on fire …. attack banks, and public properties”.

“Families, I ask you: do not allow your young children to join rioters and terrorists who behead people and kill others,” he said in a TV interview, adding that the government was ready to listen to the people and to resolve economic problems.

Iran summoned Britain’s ambassador on Sunday to the foreign ministry over “interventionist comments” attributed to the British foreign minister and a protester removing the Iranian flag from the London Embassy building and replacing it with a style of flag used prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Britain’s foreign office did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Iranian state TV broadcast funeral processions in western cities such as Gachsaran and Yasuj for security personnel killed in protests.

State TV said 30 members of the security forces would be buried in the central city of Isfahan and that six more were killed by “rioters” in Kermanshah in the west.