Bangladesh kicks off campaigning for its first election since the 2024 uprising, with key frontrunner Tarique Rahman launching his bid in Sylhet.
SYLHET: Official campaigning for Bangladesh’s general elections began on Thursday. The February 12 polls are the first since the 2024 uprising ended the autocratic rule of Sheikh Hasina.
Tens of thousands of flag-waving supporters of key frontrunner Tarique Rahman crowded the streets of Sylhet. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) loyalists chanted his name and carried placards of the prime ministerial hopeful.
Rahman, 60, only returned to Bangladesh in December after 17 years in exile. He assumed leadership of the BNP following the death of his mother, former prime minister Khaleda Zia.
“He will carry forward the legacy of his parents,” said die-hard BNP supporter Harun Ur Rashid. He referred to Zia and her husband, former president Ziaur Rahman, who was assassinated in 1981.
The largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, will begin its campaign in the capital Dhaka later in the day. The National Citizen Party (NCP), allied with Jamaat, will also launch its rally in Dhaka.
The South Asian nation of 170 million votes to elect 350 lawmakers. The polls are expected to usher in new leadership after prolonged turmoil following Hasina’s ouster.
It comes against a backdrop of insecurity and warnings of online disinformation. European Union election observers say the vote will be the “biggest democratic process of 2026”.
Muhammad Yunus, the 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate, will step down after the polls. He returned from exile in August 2024 to lead a caretaker government as “chief adviser”.
Yunus said he inherited a “completely broken” political system. He championed a reform charter he argues is vital to prevent a return to authoritarian rule.
A referendum on the changes will be held on the same day as polling. “If you cast the ‘yes’ vote, the door to building the new Bangladesh will open,” Yunus said in a broadcast.
Earlier this month, he warned he was “concerned about the impact” a surge of disinformation could have. “They have flooded social media with fake news, rumours and speculation,” Yunus said.
Relations with neighbouring India have soured, after Hasina escaped to her old ally New Delhi. Hasina, 78, was sentenced to death in absentia in November for crimes against humanity.
She remains in hiding in India for the deadly crackdown on protesters in her failed bid to cling to power.
