Bangladesh voted on Thursday in its first election since a deadly 2024 uprising, as parties crushed under Sheikh Hasina’s rule return to the fray with a powerful political heir facing a coalition.
Voters lined up outside polling stations in Dhaka in the hugely anticipated election, while key party leaders have raised fears of threats or “conspiracies” to derail the vote.
It is the world’s first election after a revolution led by under-30s, or Gen Z, to be followed by Nepal next month.
With around 128 million people eligible to vote, turnout reached a high 32.88 per cent by noon at about three-fourths of the 42,651 polling centres across the country, Akhtar Ahmed, senior secretary of the Election Commission, told reporters.
More than 300,000 soldiers and police are deployed countrywide, with UN experts warning ahead of voting of “growing intolerance, threats and attacks”, and a “tsunami of disinformation”, especially targeting millions of young first-time voters.
In Dhaka, the capital, people queued up outside voting booths before polls opened at 7:30am local time (0130 GMT), including eager participants like Mohammed Jobair Hossain, 39, who said he last voted in 2008.
“I am feeling excited because we are voting in a free manner after 17 years,” Hossain said as he waited in line. “Our votes will matter and have meaning.”
“This was my first vote,” said Shithi Goswami, 21, a student at Dhaka City College. “I hope after everything we went through the last few years, now is the time for something positive.”
Leading prime ministerial hopeful Tarique Rahman, 60, said he was “confident” his Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) could regain power in the South Asian nation of 170 million people.
But he faces a stiff challenge from a coalition led by the Muslim-majority country’s Jamaat-i-Islami party.
“If people in Bangladesh come out to cast their votes, conspiracies will not succeed,” Tarique said after voting.
Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman, 67, has mounted a disciplined grassroots campaign.
Jamaat, who have campaigned on a platform of justice and ending corruption, sense their biggest opportunity in decades, with party leader Rahman saying it “will do whatever is required” to ensure a fair result.
‘Ended the nightmare’
Opinion polls vary widely, though most give the BNP the lead — with some suggesting a knife-edge race.
During campaigning, political clashes killed five people and injured more than 600, police records show.
Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin said the vote was going “smoothly in a free and fair manner”, with “a few minor disruptions” — noting the main threat was a flood of disinformation on social media.
Interim leader Muhammad Yunus, who will step down once the new government takes power, has said the vote “will determine the future direction of the country”.
The 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner has led the South Asian nation since Hasina’s 15-year rule ended with her ouster in August 2024.
His administration has barred her Awami League party from contesting the polls.
Hasina, 78, was sentenced to death in absentia for crimes against humanity for the bloody crackdown on protesters during her final months in power, and remains in hiding in India.
Yunus, speaking after voting, said that the country had “ended the nightmare and begun a new dream”.
‘Spirit of the uprising’
He has championed a sweeping democratic reform charter to overhaul what he called a “completely broken” system of government and to prevent a return to one-party rule.
The 127m voters are also voting in a referendum on whether to endorse proposals for prime-ministerial term limits, a new upper house of parliament, stronger presidential powers and greater judicial independence.
Yeasin Arafat Emon, 25, said he had backed the charter as it “reflects the spirit of the uprising”.
Voters will elect 300 lawmakers directly, with a further 50 women chosen from party lists.
Counting by hand begins after polls close at 4:30pm (3:30pm PKT), with first significant results expected potentially overnight.
Several voters are conflicted about participating in the election.
Some, like rickshaw puller Chan Mia, say they cannot afford to travel to their villages to vote and lose their daily income in Dhaka. Others, such as gatekeeper Mohammad Sabuj, feel disillusioned because Hasina’s party is barred.
But some are determined to cast their ballots.
“During Hasina’s time, we couldn’t cast our votes,” said Shakil Ahmed, a driver. “Its my right to vote. This time, I won’t miss it.”
The next government will inherit a battered economy in the world’s second-largest garment exporter, as well as delicate relations with India.
The BNP’s Tarique — whose late parents both led the country — told AFP ahead of the vote that his first priority, if elected, would be restoring security and stability.
But he warned the challenges ahead were immense, and that “the economy has been destroyed”.
President Zardari hopes for peaceful process
President Asif Ali Zardari said he hoped for a peaceful election process in Bangladesh, according to a post by the president’s official account on social media platform X on Thursday morning.
“President Asif Ali Zardari extends best wishes to the people of Bangladesh as over 127 million voters head to the polls today to elect representatives to 300 seats,” the statement said.
He expressed hope for “a peaceful process that strengthens democracy and stability”, the post added.
