Chief adviser of the interim government Muhammad Yunus has pledged a peaceful transfer of power in Dhaka
Bangladesh is voting in its 13th general elections today, a year and a half after an uprising led to the ouster of the Awami League government led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
A referendum on constitutional and institutional reforms is also being held in the South Asian country.
There are 127.7 million registered voters in Bangladesh; about 56 million, roughly 44% of the electorate, are between 18 and 37. Nearly 5 million are heading to the polls for the first time.
The 15-year reign of Hasina’s party ended in a violent uprising in August 2024, reportedly led by Generation Z protestors. Hasina, who fled to neighboring India, has since been sentenced to death by a court in absentia.
The Awami League, which ruled Bangladesh for a quarter century, has been barred from contesting the polls by the interim administration, led by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus.
Yunus, a Nobel laureate, pledged to oversee a peaceful and dignified transfer of power in a nationally televised address on Thursday.
Hasina, meanwhile, has called on Bangladeshis not to participate in the national elections. “Do not go to vote,” she said.
Shafiqur Rahman, chief of Jamaat-e-Islami, the country’s largest Islamist party, has called on Generation Z to take the lead on election day, recalling their role during the 2024 uprising, which allegedly had the hallmarks of a foreign-funded, meticulously planned regime change operation.
The national parliament, the Jatiya Sangsad, has 350 seats: 300 are filled via direct elections.
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