Tarique Rahman-led BNP ahead in Bangladesh polls with 200+ seats; Jamaat set to become main Opposition

According to media projections Friday morning, the “Yes” vote in the referendum was ahead of the “No” vote. The Election Commission is yet to announce the results.

As the counting proceeded throughout Thursday night and continued till Friday morning, it became clear that the people opted for the mainstream political party over the new parties.

For the BNP’s main rival, Jamaat-e-Islami, this was a remarkable turnaround for a party that had been a political pariah for a long time. The bellwether for the Islamist party’s victory was seen in the university elections last year, when it won in Dhaka University and other government-run varsities in the country.

While the BNP did not issue any statement, it released a couple of photographs of Tarique Rahman, poised to become the prime minister, in a celebratory mode.

First polls without Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League

This election result will not come as a surprise for many in Bangladesh, as Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League is not contesting. Banned from contesting polls following her ouster, it had vacated the political landscape for the BNP and the Jamaat.

Although the Jamaat-e-Islami had tied up with the National Citizens Party (NCP), a party floated by student protesters, the arrangement did not appear to have yielded much result, according to the outcomes available so far.

In the 300-seat Bangladesh parliament, a party needs 151 for a simple majority and 200 for a two-thirds majority to pass constitutional amendments.

On Thursday, the voter turnout was about 48 per cent until 2 pm. The polls closed at 4.30 pm. According to the Bangladesh media, the turnout was about 60 per cent, lower than in 2008, when all parties contested elections held under a caretaker government, and the voter turnout was about 86 per cent.

On Thursday, after casting his vote, BNP chief Tarique Rahman said, “Today, the people of Bangladesh will exercise their rights and usher in a democratic Bangladesh… I personally strongly believe that if people across Bangladesh come out today and exercise their rights by voting, Insha Allah, any conspiracy can be thwarted.”

Prof Mohammed Yunus, who led the country’s interim government as its chief advisor, had urged voters to make the day of the elections the “birthday of a new Bangladesh”.

Each voter in Bangladesh had to vote for an MP candidate and for a referendum on constitutional reforms. The reforms limit the prime minister’s term to 10 years, reinstate the caretaker government, introduce a bicameral parliament, and grant greater independence to the judiciary, among other measures.

This made the exercise complicated and challenging, especially in a country of 12.7 crore voters.