In the 13th general elections, which were held Thursday amidst celebrations, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) won a resounding victory with a majority of more than two-thirds, enabling the BNP-led coalition to create the next government.
BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman is now able to lead the government as prime minister for the first time thanks to the overwhelming victory.
Of the 299 parliamentary seats where free and fair elections were held, the Election Commission (EC) declared the unofficial results for 297 of them. However, it delayed the results announcement for Chattogram-2 and Chattogram-4.
However, voting in Sherpur-3 constituency was postponed due to death of a Jamaat-e-Islami candidate.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) easily secured a majority of over two-thirds in the 13th general elections, which were held Thursday amid festivities. This allowed the BNP-led coalition to become the next administration.
The resounding win has allowed BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman to serve as prime minister for the first time.
The Election Commission (EC) announced the unofficial results for 297 of the 299 parliamentary seats where free and fair elections were conducted. It did, however, postpone the release of Chattogram-2 and Chattogram-4 results.
Meanwhile, the United States of America (USA), China, India and Pakistan congratulated Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairman Tarique Rahman for the party’s historic landslide victory in the 13th National Parliament Election.
According to the Election Commission, the voter turnout in the parliamentary polls was recorded 59.44 percent while it was 60.26 in the referendum. The referendum witnessed 4,80,74,429 ‘Yes’ votes and 2,25,65,627 ‘No’ votes.
Foreign observers and independent polls monitoring groups said the election was held in a free, fair and peaceful manner, maintaining the world standard.
Earlier, voting began at 7:30 am across 42,779 polling centres in 299 constituencies nationwide.
A total of 12,77,11,793 voters were registered to cast their ballots, including 6,48,25,361 males, 6,28,85,200 females, and 1,232 from the third gender.
A total of 50 political parties contested the polls with 2,028 candidates including 273 independent, while BNP fielded the highest number of candidates of 291. Besides, a total of 83 female candidates contested the polls.
According to the EC, some 800,000 officials, apart from those involved in maintaining security and law and order, were on election duties.
They included 69 returning officers, 598 assistant returning officers, 42,779 presiding officers, 247,482 assistant presiding officers and 4,95,964 polling officers. Besides, About 15,000 officials are engaged in postal voting duties.
EC officials earlier said that of the security personnel deployed, 103,000 were army troops, 8,500 navy sailors and airmen, alongside 37,453 paramilitary BGB soldiers and 3,585 paramilitary Coast Guard members.
The number of policemen on poll duty was 187,603, while RAB personnel number was 9,349. The highest number of law enforcement personnel was drawn from Ansar, with personnel numbering 5,67,868.
Some 55,454 observers from 81 local organizations monitored the elections while the number of foreign poll monitors was 394. Nearly 200 foreign journalists arrived in Bangladesh to observe the elections and the referendum.
Of the international observers, 80 represent various international organizations, while the rest come from different countries, including independent European observers.
