The vote, scheduled for February 12, is seen as a major test for democracy in the South Asian country.
Bangladesh is preparing to hold its first national elections since the 2024 uprising that ousted longtime Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Major political parties held election rallies in the capital Dhaka on Thursday ahead of the polls scheduled for February 12.
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The interim government, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, has promised to hold free and fair elections, the most consequential in Bangladesh’s history.
The South Asian country of about 170 million people will elect 350 members of parliament who will decide on political reforms. European Union election observers say the vote will be the “biggest democratic process of 2026”.
Yunus, 85, who has lifted millions out of poverty through Grameen Bank and is known as the “banker to the poor”, said he had inherited a political system that was “totally broken”.
He returned from exile in August 2024 at the request of demonstrators to lead a caretaker government as “chief adviser”, but has promised to step down after the polls.
The transitional government defended Mr. Yunus’s reform charter, upheld it, and planned to implement it on the same day as the vote, preventing a return to authoritarian rule.
The July National Charter, named after the uprising that began in July 2024 and led to the fall of Hasina’s government, includes empowering the president to balance the previously powerful position of the prime minister. It also proposes term limits for members of Congress and measures to prevent conflicts of interest, money laundering and corruption.
The bill was signed by 25 of the country’s 52 registered political parties last year, but supporters say a referendum is needed to make it legally binding and part of the constitution.
Hasina, 78, remains in hiding in India after being sentenced to death in absentia in November for crimes against humanity over a deadly crackdown on protesters who tried and failed to cling to power.
Political parties hold rallies amid claims of disinformation
The Awami League, once led by Hasina, has been banned from contesting elections after the country’s Election Commission suspended its registration in May.
Tarique Rahman, leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and son of former prime minister Khaleda Zia, is widely seen as a leading candidate for the post of prime minister. He began campaigning in the northeastern city of Sylhet on Thursday and plans to visit several other districts in the coming days.
Tens of thousands of supporters rallied in Sylhet, shouting his name.
“Do we have a leader? Yes, we do,” BNP supporters shouted. Rahman had only returned to Bangladesh in December after 17 years in exile.
“He will carry on the legacy of his parents,” Harun-ur-Rashid, 40, told AFP, referring to Zia and her husband, former president Zia-ur-Rahman, who was assassinated in 1981.
A 10-party coalition led by the Jamaat-e-Islami party is also aiming to expand its influence. A victory for the Jamaat-led alliance would be a dramatic turnaround for the party, which suffered brutal repression during 15 years under Hasina’s rule.
Jamaat-e-Islami has long faced criticism from secular groups who say its positions call into question Bangladesh’s secular foundations. The country has the world’s largest population with a Muslim majority.
“We want something new and the new option is Jamaat,” Mohammad Jalal, 40, told Reuters at a party rally in Dhaka. “They have a clean image and work for the country.”
Earlier this month, Yunus said he was “concerned” about the impact of the surge in disinformation and blamed both “foreign media and local sources.”
“They are flooding social media with fake news, rumors and speculation,” Yunus said.
He did not say which foreign forces he believed were behind the disinformation, but relations with neighboring India have deteriorated since Hasina fled to old ally New Delhi when protesters stormed her palace.
