Bangladesh Holds First Post-Uprising General Elections

National general election in Bangladesh. Photo: EFE.

February 12, 2026 Hour: 3:33 am

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Bangladesh holds landmark parliamentary polls and constitutional referendum Thursday, February 12, as over 2,000 candidates compete to reshape nation’s democracy after the 2024 uprising.

According to the Bangladesh Election Commission (BEC), more than 127 million people are registered to vote and a total of 2,028 candidates are contesting these elections.

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Authorities have rolled out the most sweeping security operation Bangladesh has ever seen—CCTV, drones, and officer-worn body cameras blanketing polling stations, the commission confirmed.

The country will unleashed throughout the day its biggest-ever election security blitz—flooding the streets with video surveillance, drones, and body cams on officials, the commission said.

Bangladeshis will also vote in a referendum on the so-called ‘July National Charter’, a package of constitutional reforms born from the student uprising, which seeks to dismantle the autocratic structures that have dominated the country for decades and prevent a future prime minister from accumulating absolute power.

These elections represent the first national vote since the beginning of the political transition triggered by the protests of August 2024, which left more than 1,400 dead according to the UN and culminated in the removal of then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, now sentenced to death.

Bangladeshi people gather outside of a voting center during the 13th national general election in Dhaka, Bangladesh, February 12, 2026. People are voting to select members of the national parliament and to approve the proposed July National Charter constitutional reforms. Photo: EFE.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), considered the frontrunner, is competing in most constituencies and faces an alliance of 11 parties led by the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami, which includes the National Citizens’ Party (NCP), created by the young people who led the protests against Hasina.

The elections are taking place without the participation of the Awami League, Hasina’s party and historically dominant in Bangladeshi politics, currently disqualified.

Nearly 400 election observers, including representatives from the European Union, as well as 197 foreign journalists are deployed in the country, amid fears of possible episodes of violence or boycott attempts.

Vote counting will begin after polling stations close, and the first results are expected to be known from early Friday.