BNP President Tarique Rahman greets his supporters as he leaves his residence in Dhaka. Photo: AFP
DAKAR:
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) celebrated a landslide victory on Friday in the first elections since the deadly 2024 uprising, with its leader Tarique Rahman as prime minister.
Electoral Commission figures showed the BNP alliance won 212 seats, compared to 77 for the Islamist alliance Jamaat-e-Islami – which earlier said it had “serious questions about the integrity of the results process”.
Rahman told AFP two days before the vote that he was “confident” his party – crushed during the 15 years of autocratic rule of deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina – would return to power in the South Asian country of 170 million people.
Hasina’s Awami League party was not allowed to participate.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday congratulated the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its leader Tarique Rahman for securing an overwhelming majority in national elections and receiving the mandate to form the next government.
The President, in a statement, congratulated the people of Bangladesh for the successful conduct of polling on 299 seats with the participation of over 127 million registered voters.
Reaffirming Pakistan’s support for Bangladesh’s sovereignty and democratic aspirations, the President said Pakistan looks forward to working with the new government to strengthen cooperation in trade, defense, cultural exchanges and regional forums.
President Zardari said the Bangladesh elections represented an opportunity for South Asia to move beyond past phases in which regional cooperation, including within SAARC, was held hostage by India, which continued to paralyze the grand forum born in Bangladesh in 1985.
He expressed hope that the new political environment in Dhaka would contribute to a more balanced, independent and mutually respectful engagement in the region.
President Zardari also expressed his best wishes for stability, progress and prosperity in Bangladesh.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday congratulated Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Tarique Rahman on his election victory.
“I also congratulate the people of Bangladesh on the successful conduct of the elections,” the prime minister wrote on X, adding that he looked forward to working closely with the new leaders.
The US embassy congratulated Rahman and the BNP on a “historic victory”, while neighboring India hailed Rahman’s “decisive victory”, an important step after recent difficult relations with Bangladesh.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). “India will continue to support a democratic, progressive and inclusive Bangladesh.”
In a separate statement, Modi said he spoke with Rahman over phone to express his wishes. “As two close neighbors with deep-rooted historical and cultural ties, I reaffirmed India’s continued commitment to the peace, progress and prosperity of our two peoples,” the Indian leader said in a message on X.
The vote was largely peaceful and the country has reportedly been calm since polling day.
Jamaat leader Shafiqur Rahman, 67, had launched a disciplined popular campaign on a program of justice and an end to corruption.
His party said it was “dissatisfied with the process surrounding the election results”, claiming to have recorded “repeated inconsistencies and fabrications in the unofficial announcements of the results”, but without giving further details.
The Electoral Commission said turnout was 59 percent in 299 constituencies out of 300 where voting took place.
Fifty additional parliamentary seats reserved for women will be designated from party lists.
Senior BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi claimed a resounding victory, calling on his supporters to give thanks in prayer rather than celebrating in the streets.
“There will be no victorious rally despite the resounding victory of the BNP,” Rizvi said in a statement.
