The historic opposition party wins the first elections in Bangladesh after the student uprising

BarcelonaThe Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is on track for a historic return to power after securing an absolute majority in Thursday's elections, according to provisional results. The elections mark the end of the era of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, a political transition triggered by the August 2014 protests. They left more than 1,400 deadIn addition to electing members of Parliament, Bangladeshis have approved in a referendum the package of constitutional reforms born from the student uprising, which aims to prevent a future prime minister from accumulating absolute power. With the vote count still underway, preliminary results released by local media on Friday give the BNP at least 151 of the 299 seats at stake, the exact threshold needed to govern alone. If confirmed, this victory would end a 15-year period of ostracism and persecution for the party led by Tarique Rahman, who recently returned to the country after 17 years of exile in London. "The people of Bangladesh have been waiting for this day for a long time. Today, the people have regained their rights," he proclaimed. Rahman, 60, belongs to the influential Zia family: he is the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and Ziaur Rahman, who was assassinated while serving as president in 1981. Rahman has pledged to rebuild democratic institutions, restore the rule of law, and revive the struggling economy.

These elections represent the success of the fragile transition overseen by the pRemi, Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, Unlike the three previous elections under Hasina's regime—marked by massive fraud and boycotts—Bangladeshi elections were held with the approval of international observers. Yunus, who assumed the interim government in August to pacify a nation devastated by government repression against Generation Z, celebrated the vote as "the anniversary of the new Bangladesh." One million officers ensured the security of the elections, which exceptionally saw no deaths from political violence.

The BNP leadership has banned its supporters from any street celebrations to avoid clashes and has instead called for a national day of prayer. The country's main Islamist alliance, led by Jamaat-e-Islami, which is poised to become the second largest parliamentary force with around 43 seats, has rejected the results, alleging irregularities.

Democratization

The country looks with hope to a new chapter of democratization, after Hasina's authoritarian rule. who was sentenced to death in NovemberThe court found her guilty of ordering the brutal repression against the wave of protests against the governmentHasina was tried in absentia, as she has been in exile in India since August 2024.when he resigned and fled the country because of the riotsHasina denies the charges and questions the legitimacy of these elections, in which her party, the Awami League, was banned from participating. This gave other parties a chance, after the Awami League had historically dominated Bangladeshi politics.

Since Hasina fled, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus assumed power with an interim government and a commitment to restoring institutional stability. "The mandate of the interim government was to create the conditions for holding democratic and fair elections, and it seems that this has been fulfilled," CIDOB researcher and Asia expert Inés Arco told ARA. "We must forget the history of the takeover of polling stations and the capture of ballot boxes," declared Bangladesh's Chief Election Commissioner, AMM Nasir Uddin, after voting in Dhaka.