On February 12, Bangladesh will head to the polls to elect its next government, 18 months after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted from office by a student-led movement.

Hasina, the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the leader of the country’s independence movement, ruled Bangladesh between 1996 and 2001 and again from 2009 until she had to flee from office in August 2024 – after ordering a brutal crackdown on protesters which killed an estimated 1,400 people – and seek exile in India.

An interim administration led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has since led the country.

Here is everything you need to know about the upcoming general election:

Bangladesh at a glance

The 2026 elections are among the most consequential in the country’s 55-year history, since gaining independence from Pakistan in 1971.

With more than 173 million citizens, Bangladesh is the eighth most populous country globally and, over the past 25 years, its economy has been one of the fastest-growing in the world – though growth has cooled in recent years.

Bangladesh is a predominantly Muslim country, with more than 90 percent of the population following Islam, 8 percent practising Hinduism and the rest following other faiths.

Economically, the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) stands at $461bn, with a per capita income of $1,990.

According to the Bangladesh Bank, GDP expanded by 3.97 percent in the fiscal year ending June 2025, easing from a 4.22 percent rise in the previous year.

Millions of first-time voters

Bangladesh has one of the world’s youngest populations, with a significant portion under the age of 30.

Advertisement

Among those above the voting age of 18, approximately 56 million, or 44 percent, are between the ages of 18 and 37, and nearly 5 million are first-time voters.

Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, with 1,366 people per square kilometre (3,538 people per square mile). This density is nearly three times that of India and four times that of Pakistan.

The country’s largest city is the capital, Dhaka, which has a population of more than 37 million people – more than the entire population of Malaysia, Saudi Arabia or Australia.

How is the government structured?

Bangladesh is a parliamentary republic, where executive power is exercised by an elected government, consisting of the prime minister and cabinet.

The president of Bangladesh is the ceremonial head of state and is indirectly elected by the parliament for a five-year term.

The prime minister is the leader of the majority party or coalition in parliament.

The prime minister appoints the cabinet, oversees government policy and directs civil service.

Legislative authority rests with the Jatiya Sangsad, Bangladesh’s parliament. It consists of 350 seats, including 300 directly elected seats and 50 seats reserved for women, which are allocated proportionally based on their share of votes. Members serve five-year terms.

Administratively, Bangladesh is divided into eight divisions, 64 districts and 495 upazilas (councils). Local governments manage municipal services, education and rural development, though they depend heavily on funding and authority from the central government.

Political parties

In this 2026 election cycle, there are 59 registered political parties in Bangladesh, excluding the Awami League, Sheikh Hasina’s party, which has had its registration suspended by the election commission, nullifying its ability to field candidates in the polls.

Of these, 51 parties are actively participating in elections by fielding candidates. In total, 1,981 candidates are contesting, including 249 independent candidates.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) – Led by Tarique Rahman, the son of recently deceased former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia.

The BNP is one of Bangladesh’s two major traditional parties and positions itself as a nationalist and conservative alternative to the Awami League.

Jamaat-e-Islami – The Islamic party, led by Shafiqur Rahman, advocates for politics rooted in the religion’s principles and has formed an electoral alliance with the National Citizen Party (NCP) along with other Islamic parties.

Advertisement

National Citizen Party (NCP) – Formed by student leaders of the 2024 uprising, it is a centrist party focused on citizen-led governance and political reform. It has garnered attention from younger voters and civil society groups due to increasing dissatisfaction with established parties.

Jatiya Party (JP-Quader) – This centre-right faction of the Jatiya Party is led by Ghulam Muhammed Quader.

Jatiya Party (JP-Ershad) – Led by Anisul Islam Mahmud, this centre-right party has its roots in the military rule of former President Hussain Muhammad Ershad in the 1980s.

Left Democratic Alliance – A coalition of left-wing parties, including the Communist Party of Bangladesh and several socialist groups.

Amar Bangladesh Party (AB Party) – A centrist party that presents itself as a reform-oriented alternative to the established political blocs, appealing to voters seeking a break from traditional party politics.

Previous election results

Bangladesh’s electoral history over the past two decades has been predominantly shaped by the Awami League, which came to power in 2009 after a significant defeat of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) which had ruled from 2001 to 2006.

In the 2001 election, the Awami League suffered a major defeat, winning just 62 seats, while the BNP secured a commanding majority with 193 seats. That election marked the last clear transfer of power between the two major parties.

The balance shifted decisively in 2008, when the Awami League-led Grand Alliance returned to power in a landslide. Since then, the party has consolidated its dominance.

In 2014, with the BNP absent from the contest, Hasina’s Awami League again won in a landslide.

The party further strengthened its grip in the 2018 election, securing 300 seats, while the BNP was reduced to just seven seats, its weakest performance on record. Thousands of BNP leaders were arrested in the lead-up to the elections. The Jamaat was banned in 2015, and so it couldn’t contest. International observers and opposition groups described the election as neither free nor fair.

In the most recent 2024 election, the Awami League won 272 seats, maintaining a parliamentary majority. The BNP again boycotted, amid deepening repression of opposition leaders. The Jamaat was still banned.

Political leaders throughout history

Since Bangladesh’s independence in 1971 from Pakistan, the country’s turbulent political evolution has been shaken by internal conflicts, military intervention and fragile democratic institutions.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman served as the country’s first president – the leader of the independence movement – who soon banned other political parties and adopted increasingly repressive policies.

Rahman was assassinated in 1975 by army officers, who killed him and most of his family. Only two members of his immediate family survived: his daughters, Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana, who were in West Germany during the attack, and then lived in India in exile. This event triggered a period of coups and counter-coups that established the military as a dominant political force in the country.

Following the assassination, cabinet minister Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad took control of the government until he was deposed in a counter-coup just months later, which led to the appointment of Chief Justice Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem as a figurehead president.

Advertisement

In 1977, Major General Ziaur Rahman assumed the presidency, and a year later, he founded the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). His leadership blurred the lines between military and civilian governance. Zia, as he was called, was also assassinated in a failed coup attempt in 1981.

From 1982 to 1990, Bangladesh was ruled under a military dictatorship led by Hussain Muhammad Ershad, during which democratic institutions were weakened, and the presidency functioned as an instrument of centralised rule.

By the late 1980s, Zia’s wife and successor as BNP leader, Khaleda Zia, and Mujibur Rahman’s daughter Sheikh Hasina, joined forces to take on military rule and demand a return to democracy.

In 1990, under mounting pressure, Ershad resigned, paving the way for elections in 1991 that Khaleda won – becoming the country’s first female prime minister.

By then, the brief unity between Khaleda and Hasina had broken down. Over the next two decades, Bangladesh experienced a turbulent swapping of power between the BNP and Hasina’s Awami League. Hasina became PM in 1996, then Khaleda returned to power in 2001, and then Hasina won office again in 2009.

It would be the start of a 15-year stint marked by increasingly heavy-handed rule and repression of political opponents, accompanied by broad economic growth. By 2024, Bangladeshi youth had seen enough – and rose up in the revolt that ousted Hasina and led to this moment.