Bangladesh's BNP wins sweeping election majority, promise of stability

DHAKA, Feb 13 - The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) won an overwhelming 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 in 2024.

Latest counts in a vote seen as the South Asian nation's first truly competitive election 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 Election Commission put the BNP at 181 seats, the Jamaat-e-Islami at 61 and others at 7, with full official results not expected before noon (0600 GMT) on Friday.

The BNP, which returns to power after 20 years, thanked the people soon 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.

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.

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.

""A strong majority gives BNP the parliamentary strength to pass reforms efficiently and avoid legislative paralysis. That alone can create short-term political stability," Selim Raihan, an economics professor at the University of Dhaka, told Reuters.

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.

In its manifesto, the BNP promised to prioritise job creation, protect low-income and marginal households and ensure fair prices to farmers.

"If the factories run regularly and we get our wages on time, that’s what matters to us. I just want the BNP government to bring back stability so more orders come to Bangladesh and we can survive," Josna Begum, 28, a garment worker and mother of two, told Reuters after the results.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the U.S. ambassador to Bangladesh, Brent T. Christensen, were among the first to congratulate Rahman on his party's victory.

BNP SUPPORTERS CELEBRATE OVERNIGHT

The Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami conceded defeat late on Thursday night once trends became clear, but said in a statement on Friday that it was "not satisfied" with the process and asked its followers to stay patient.

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.

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 elections of other years were boycotted by one of the main parties or were contentious.

Overnight, throngs of supporters cheered and shouted slogans at the BNP headquarters in Dhaka as the scale of the party's landslide became clear.

Turnout exceeded the 42% of the last election in 2024, with media nearly 60% of registered voters participated in the election on Thursday.

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. REUTERS