Explained | Bangladesh holds elections on February 12, here’s what to know

More than 120 million people in Bangladesh are expected to vote on Thursday to pick a new leader. It’s a pivotal moment: the first national election since a student revolution in the summer of 2024 toppled the previous prime minister, Sheikh Hasina. Bangladeshis will also vote on a referendum that includes many of the political reforms demanded during the protests.

More than 50 political parties are putting up candidates. The main parties — except for Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League, which is barred from participating — have released manifestoes that promise to fulfill the students’ dreams of a more democratic and equitable Bangladesh, a country that has been governed by the same two parties since its independence, except for some stretches of military rule. But the candidate who is widely expected to win represents one of those entrenched parties, and many young people say they are unsure if their vision will ever be achieved.

Why is this election important?

Many Bangladeshis see this as a chance to build an inclusive democracy with safeguards against authoritarian rule and against the widespread corruption that sparked the protest movement.

Voter turnout is expected to be one of the largest in Bangladesh’s history. The last election, in January 2024, was widely seen as rigged in favor of the Awami League, and just more than a quarter of voters turned out. The BNP, the country’s main opposition party, did not participate.

This election is also significant because millions of voters will be casting their ballots for the first time. The median age in Bangladesh is about 25, so most Bangladeshis were too young to vote during the 15 years that Hasina ruled the country. Many who were eligible to vote didn’t do so in the three elections held while she was in power.

Who is running?

Since the Awami League fell, the country has been run by an interim government led by Muhammad Yunus, an economist and Nobel laureate. For much of Bangladesh’s existence, either the Awami League or the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, both with roots in the 1971 independence movement, have ruled the country.

Now, the interim government has banned activities by the Awami League. Facing a death sentence for her role in the deaths of hundreds of students during the protests, Hasina has been living in exile in India. Yunus, 85, has said that his role was to ensure a smooth transition to an elected government and that he would not be running.

That leaves the BNP as the dominant player, and Tarique Rahman, the party chair and the son of the military general who founded it, is expected to become the next prime minister. The party is running on a platform of “Bangladesh before all,” a slogan meant to show an inclusive approach to government.

Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh’s other main political party, has made significant inroads. Dedicated to a society based on Islamic law, Jamaat for decades was not seen as a mainstream player because it opposed independence from Pakistan in 1971. The vast majority of people in Bangladesh are Muslim, but its Constitution ensures freedom of religion. Jamaat has gained clout, analysts say, by playing on people’s anger at the demonization of Muslims, particularly by the Hindu right-wing movement in neighboring India.

A new player is the National Citizen Party, formed last year by leaders of the 2024 student protests. The NCP and Jamaat have teamed up to join the election field, along with a cluster of smaller parties. This arrangement has upset many students and those who want Bangladesh to be more secular, moderate and inclusive.

What are the main issues?

The various parties are campaigning on similar platforms that promise stability and the rule of law, better educational and employment opportunities for young people, a more inclusive society that welcomes minorities, gender equality, and other policies to strengthen the economy and encourage foreign investment.

But at the heart of this election is the future of the students’ vision for Bangladesh. Those views are enshrined in a referendum on the July National Charter 2025, which includes measures to increase the representation of women, impose term limits on the prime minister and ensure judicial independence. Most political parties support the charter, but the student-led NCP said it would have no teeth without legal basis and pushed for a referendum on whether it should be included in the Constitution.

What’s the mood right now?

In Dhaka, the capital, people have expressed a mix of suspense and anticipation. Some students say they have been frustrated with the slow pace of progress on reforms. Others say they are thrilled to be exercising their democratic right.

The government is prepped for unrest. On Tuesday, large groups of police and army troops rehearsed crowd control plans, and more than 100,000 army troops are being deployed across Bangladesh, along with almost 1 million law enforcement personnel, officials say.

There have been reports of clashes between workers of various political parties in recent weeks. According to ASK, a human rights watchdog in Bangladesh, more than 600 people were hurt in election-related violence in January.