Bangladesh has entered the final phase of a crucial parliamentary election, with campaigning set to end later today. With voting scheduled for February 12, political parties and candidates have been making last-minute efforts through rallies, door-to-door outreach, public meetings and media campaigns.
All electioneering must stop 48 hours before polling, setting the deadline at 7:30 pm on February 10. The election is being held at a sensitive time for the country, which continues to face political instability, social unrest and strained regional ties following a dramatic change in leadership last year.
From protests to polls
Bangladesh’s political landscape has remained unsettled since August 2024, when mass student-led protests forced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina out of office, ending her approximately 20-year-long rule.
The unrest plunged the country into uncertainty and led to the formation of a caretaker administration headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus.Regardless of the interim setup, protests, sporadic violence and damage to public and private property have continued.
Election timeline and voting rules
According to the Election Commission, campaigning began on January 22, 2026, and concludes today. Voting will take place on February 12 from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm, with counting scheduled to begin at 4 pm the same day.
Final results are expected on February 13 after counting across all constituencies is completed. Around 127 million citizens are eligible to vote. Only Bangladeshi nationals aged 18 and above whose names appear on the final voter list are allowed to cast ballots.
Main election players
The election features 59 registered political parties, of which 51 are contesting seats. A total of 1,981 candidates are in the fray, including 249 independents. The Awami League, once the dominant force in Bangladeshi politics, is absent after losing its registration following Hasina’s ouster. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by Tarique Rahman, is seen as the frontrunner and is heading a coalition of 10 parties.
The party has long alternated power with the Awami League and remains a major centre-right force. The Jamaat-e-Islami is leading an 11-party alliance that includes the National Citizen Party, a group formed by leaders of the 2024 student movement. Jamaat returned to electoral politics after the Supreme Court restored its registration in June 2025, following years of being barred from elections.
The National Citizen Party, formed in February 2025 by student leaders of the anti-Hasina protests, is contesting its first national election as part of the Jamaat-led alliance. Led by Nahid Islam, the party says it stands for clean governance, press freedom, greater representation for women and improved relations with neighbouring countries. Its alliance with Jamaat, however, has created internal dissent and criticism over ideological differences.
Other contestants include two factions of the Jatiya Party, the Left Democratic Alliance of communist and socialist groups, Islami Andolan Bangladesh, which is running independently after breaking away from Jamaat’s bloc, and the Amar Bangladesh Party, which is positioning itself as a centrist option for disillusioned voters.
Alongside the parliamentary election, voters will also decide on the July National Charter 2025 through a referendum held on the same day. The charter is the outcome of constitutional reform efforts launched after the 2024 protests and proposes changes including anti-corruption mechanisms, electoral reforms and new rules for policing. Yunus, in his role as chief adviser, has focused heavily on the referendum and has expressed confidence that voters will back the charter. Critics, however, argue that holding the referendum and implementing the charter may not be constitutional.
Hasina’s absence
Sheikh Hasina, who is currently in exile in India, has criticised the upcoming elections, saying that a process excluding her Awami League cannot unite the country. She has warned that denying political participation to a large section of voters risks deepening divisions and weakening democratic institutions. Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has objected to Hasina being allowed to make public statements from India, noting that her speeches are banned from the media inside Bangladesh.