Bangladesh votes

For years under former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s opposition had little presence on the streets during elections, either boycotting polls or being sidelined by mass arrests of senior leaders.



Now, ahead of Thursday’s vote, the roles have reversed.



Hasina’s Awami League is banned, but many young people who helped oust her government in a 2024 uprising say the upcoming vote will be the Muslim-majority nation's first competitive election since 2009, when she began a 15-year-rule.



The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is widely expected to win, although a coalition led by the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami is putting up a strong challenge.



A new party driven by Gen-Z activists under the age of 30 has aligned with Jamaat after failing to translate its anti-Hasina street mobilisation into an electoral base.



BNP chief Tarique Rahman told Reuters his party, which is contesting 292 of the 300 parliamentary seats at stake, was confident of winning "enough to form a government".



Analysts say a decisive result in the February 12 vote, instead of a fractured outcome, is vital for restoring stability in the nation of 175 million after Hasina's ouster triggered months of unrest and disrupted major industries, including the garments sector in the world’s second-largest exporter.



The verdict will also affect the roles of rival regional heavyweights China and India in the South Asian nation.