Some key figures about the parliamentary elections in Bangladesh
Dhaka, Bangladesh– Bangladesh is detained Parliamentary elections It could reshape the country after years of political instability. It is the first election since former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted by deadly protests in 2024, and a clear result is vital for stable governance.
Here are some facts and figures about Thursday’s elections:
More than 127 million people are eligible to vote in the country About 170 million people. 2,028 candidates are competing for parliamentary seats nationwide.
The number of voters is about 64.8 million voters, 62.9 million voters, and 1,234 transgender voters, according to official data. Young people were key participants in the 2024 uprising, and are expected to have an impact in the elections: there are about 5 million first-time voters eligible to vote.
The elections are being held in 42,779 polling stations, with about 800,000 officials deployed to supervise the process. The interim administration, headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, announced that it was committed to holding elections Which is free, just and peaceful. About 900,000 police and other security officers were deployed.
To help ensure this, around 500 foreign observers and journalists will attend, including EU and EU observers. CommonwealthTo which Bangladesh belongs.
Bangladesh’s national legislature has 350 legislators. Of these, 300 are directly elected from single-member constituencies, while an additional 50 seats are reserved for women. Each Parliament serves a term of five years.
The voting process is taking place in 299 electoral districts, with voting for one seat postponed after the death of one of the candidates, to be held at a later time.
About 50 parties are competing in the elections. Hasina’s former ruling Awami League party was banned from participating in the elections.
The election will be largely a bilateral contest between the BNP and an 11-party alliance headed by Jamaat-e-Islami, the country’s largest Islamist party.
BNP party Tariq RahmanHe is the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, and is a candidate to head the next government.
The BNP faces an 11-party coalition led by Jamaat-e-Islami, a conservative religious group. A new party was formed The National Citizen Party, or National Congress Party, is part of this coalition.
These are the 13th elections since the country’s independence in 1971. Elections in 2014, 2018 and 2024 under Hasina’s administration were controversial as they were widely believed to be rigged in Hasina’s favor or boycotted by her main opponents.
Bangladesh has a multi-party electoral system in which the candidate who receives the most votes wins. To secure a majority, the party or coalition must obtain 151 seats.
