Democracy and reforms at stake as Bangladesh gets first ‘real vote’ in national poll in over a decade 

DHAKA – Supporters began arriving at a playground in Dhanmondi, a central Dhaka neighbourhood, before noon for a Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) rally just

days before the national election

.

Vendors sold tea and snacks as volunteers handed out leaflets. Phones rose across the crowd when BNP chairman Tarique Rahman’s convoy rolled in.

The Feb 12 vote will be Bangladesh’s first national polls since the student-led upheaval of 2024 ended Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule and forced the country into a transition overseen by an interim administration led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.

Mr Rahman is widely seen as the front runner to become Bangladesh’s next prime minister. 

He took the helm of BNP a little over a month ago, after

his mother and the party’s long-time leader Khaleda Zia

, who was the country’s first woman prime minister and Hasina’s arch-rival, died in late December. Her funeral drew one of the largest crowds seen in Bangladesh in recent memory.

Mr Rahman, 60, had spent nearly two decades in exile in London, staying closely involved in BNP’s organisation and cultivating ties with grassroots networks online. He emerged as its de facto leader as Ms Zia’s health deteriorated, and returned home in December after Hasina’s fall.

According to the Election Commission, 2,028 candidates – from about 50 parties, as well as independents – are contesting 300 seats in the national election, which many Bangladeshis hope will be the country’s first genuinely competitive vote in more than a decade.

“People want to know what we have planned for them. That is my responsibility: To tell them clearly what we want to do,” Mr Rahman told The Straits Times. 

He hopes to meet those expectations with a promise of results-driven policy. 

“That plan is about practical support that works – tested first with public money, measured for results, and then rolled out in the way that benefits people most.”

Some 127 million eligible voters will face a high-stakes twin ballot on Feb 12, deciding both the next Parliament and

the fate of the July Charter

, a referendum proposing constitutional and institutional reforms to reshape the political system.

The referendum aims to rein in executive power, which had grown increasingly centralised in the prime minister’s office during the Hasina era, amid the politicisation of oversight institutions.

For voters who backed the 2024 uprising, the July Charter is an attempt to turn demands on the ground into enforceable guard rails that make it harder for any future government to entrench itself.

This comes as Islamist parties regain political space after years of suppression, raising concerns among some secular-leaning activists about a more conservative direction in public life without stronger institutional checks.

The election will test whether Bangladesh’s transition can produce a government with a mandate – and rules strong enough to constrain it.

Meanwhile, Hasina’s camp has denounced the Election Commission’s decision to suspend her Awami League party’s registration, barring it from contesting in the election. The party’s supporters and other critics say the move disenfranchises millions of supporters and could cloud the next government’s mandate.

The interim authorities have justified the decision on security and accountability grounds, accusing Awami League activists of sabotage and unrest after Hasina’s ouster.

Her government’s brutal crackdown on the 2024 student protests left about 1,500 people dead, according to interim leader Yunus.

Her supporters have also warned of attempts to disrupt the election if the ban is not lifted.

Months of political turbulence have taken a toll on Bangladesh’s economy, with prices remaining high, hiring subdued, and business and consumer sentiment weak.

“I hope the new government will quickly bring down the cost of living and restore law and order, so extortion in the markets stops,” said Ms Rokhsana, 31, who owns a small tailoring shop in the Dhanmondi area, an upscale residential neighbourhood in central Dhaka.

Ms Rokhsana, who goes by one name, was at Mr Rahman’s rally. “I came here just to see Tarique Rahman with my own eyes,” she said. “It feels like the country is finally moving towards democracy, and I want to witness that moment when we choose our next leader through a real vote.”

Just ahead of the election, the United States and Bangladesh announced a deal on Feb 9 to trim US “reciprocal” tariffs on Bangladesh products from 20 per cent to 19 per cent. Textile and garment production makes up about 80 per cent of Bangladesh’s exports.

Hopes of Bangladesh’s Gen Z 

Election officials say 4.5 million names have been added to the rolls since the 2024 upheaval, giving younger voters fresh weight in a race where jobs, corruption and the cost of living dominate the pitch.

Like many first-time voters, Dhaka University student Shima Akter, 25, said she would vote for “political forces that make a clear commitment to work for Bangladesh and assure the creation of a liberal and democratic environment”.

“First of all, I want a free and fair election,” she said. Past elections had been shaped by allegations of irregularities and intimidation by government loyalists, leaving many young voters convinced that the outcome was rigged and their ballots did not matter, she added.

Ms Akter said good governance and political stability also shape the job market for young people. “As a student, securing my future job is very important to me,” she said. “I also think it is crucial to stop political violence.”

Another student at the university, Mr Saeed Bin Suman, 23, said he would vote for candidates who can “reform the administrative structure” and deliver for ordinary people.

“I have only one demand from the elected government – to stay away from all forms of corruption. The new government should not engage in any corruption, like the previous one did.”

Corruption is one of Bangladesh’s deepest grievances, from petty bribes in everyday services to patronage networks that shape contracts, jobs and permits.

Under Hasina, opponents accused the state of shielding allies and squeezing rivals – a charge her party rejected – and parties are now vying to convince voters they can curb graft and extortion.

BNP’s election challenges

The BNP’s main challenge is a seat-sharing pact between Jamaat-e-Islami and the student-led National Citizen Party (NCP), which has folded protest-era energy into an 11-party Islamist-led alliance. Under the deal, Jamaat is contesting 224 seats while the NCP is running in 30.

Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party,

has reclaimed political ground

after years of repression under Hasina, whose secular nationalist government treated it as both a political and ideological rival.

Jamaat is running on an anti-corruption pitch and a promise of “discipline”, mixing development pledges with religious language and vows to curb extortion.

At a rally in Jamalpur district in early February, Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman invoked years of repression and credited younger protesters with opening political space. “We are indebted to the young men and women – our brothers and sisters,” he told supporters.

He rejected unemployment benefits as a substitute for jobs. “We will not insult the youth by giving them unemployment allowance. We will put work in their hands,” he said.

Jamaat’s agenda is framed as a “moral” as well as political reset: Its leaders argue that Bangladesh should be governed more explicitly by Islamic principles, with a tougher stance on what they call social disorder alongside promises of welfare and development.

Supporters describe it as a push for “halal income” and a more “disciplined” society, including expectations around public behaviour and dress, while Jamaat leaders say women’s “security” and “respect” would be ensured, and that women would be given roles “on the basis of merit”.

The pitch appeals to voters who see religion as an antidote to corruption and lawlessness, but it also fuels concern among secular-minded activists that a stronger Jamaat hand in politics could narrow cultural freedoms and shift the tone of public life.

The NCP, a

student-led group that emerged from the 2024 uprising

, has expressed concerns in recent weeks over the neutrality of the Election Commission and local administration.

It has accused the commission of yielding to BNP pressure on candidate eligibility, and said BNP figures and the party’s student wing tried to intimidate officials before appeal rulings were issued.

The party’s leader Nahid Islam, 27, said it feels like a slide back into familiar power politics: If the referee is seen as open to pressure, the vote risks losing its meaning.

He recalled how thousands of protesters stormed Hasina’s palace on Aug 5, 2024, after she escaped by helicopter to India, her old ally.

“On Aug 5, we arrived at this Bangladesh, where we speak freely and talk about securing voting rights,” he told ST.

“But watching how this election unfolded, it feels like the spirit of that uprising is slipping away.”

The NCP’s alliance with Jamaat has dented its reformist brand among parts of its original student base, sparking internal rifts and resignations from senior figures who say the pact undercuts the party’s promise of a new, centrist alternative.

Mr Islam has defended the move as hard-nosed politics in a high-stakes election.

What’s next?

After Polling Day, the fight will shift to Parliament: Who forms the government, and whether the July Charter becomes law or leverage. 

Foreign policymakers will be watching, too: Bangladesh’s next leadership will inherit a delicate relationship with neighbouring India, as well as expectations from investors and development partners who see stability as the first condition for growth.

As the Dhanmondi rally ended, people filtered back towards rickshaws and buses, still debating the same basics: Whether the vote will be credible, whether jobs can come without connections, and whether extortion and violence can be brought under control.

The doubts persist as many recognise that the machinery around politics has not vanished: Patronage networks, politicised policing and party-linked muscle in markets still shape daily life, and results of reforms attempted by the interim government have been uneven.

BNP’s Mr Rahman considers the answer to Bangladesh’s troubles lies in a democratic reset. “The real answer is democracy. Its absence creates the space for other problems. 

“When democracy is practised, people can speak, people can vote, and people can express themselves,” he said.