Bangladesh To Vote On February 12, First Time Since Sheikh Hasina Ouster

Elections in Bangladesh will be held on February 12, 2026, AMM Nasir Uddin, the country's chief election commissioner, announced through a televised address.

Candidates who want to contest the election will have to file nomination papers for the parliamentary election by December 29. The last date for withdrawing candidacy from the election is January 20.

The total number of voters is more than 127.6 million, with even Bangladeshis living abroad being allowed to vote through postal ballots. 

Voting will be held in all 300 parliamentary constituencies across Bangladesh.

This is a major step towards returning to a government with a political mandate, elected by the people. Currently, Bangladesh is governed by an unelected interim government led by Muhammad Yunus, who functions as Chief Advisor.

Initially, Yunus had planned to hold elections in April 2026, but pressure from within and abroad led him to announce elections in February 2026.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) had demanded that the national election be held by December. On June 6, Yunus said the election will take place in the first half of April 2026, but after a meeting with BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman, the February 2026 election announcement was made.

Yunus has also announced that a referendum on implementing the July national charter and the election will be held on the same day. The announcement of a referendum with an election has been met with opposition from the BNP. The BNP was the leading opposition party during the Hasina regime and is believed to be a frontrunner in the upcoming elections.

The National Citizen Party (NCP), an offshoot of the protests in Dhaka in August 2024, will also be contesting the elections. The NCP has formed an alliance with the Amar Bangladesh (AB) Party, which is an offshoot of the right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami party.

Since former PM Sheikh Hasina's ouster after violent protests in Dhaka in August 2024 that forced her to flee the country as an angry mob took over her official residence and looted and vandalised it, demands for a return to a politically elected government have grown.

Hasina's Awami League has been banned from contesting the election, leading to questions about the fairness of the election, as the Awami League still has considerable support among the populace.