Bangladesh Schedules 2026 Parliamentary Election

Bangladesh's Chief Election Commissioner A.M.M. Nasir Uddin announced on Thursday that the country will hold its 13th national parliamentary election on February 12, 2026, marking the first general polls since the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina amid widespread student-led protests in August 2024.

The election, which will fill all 300 parliamentary seats, comes 18 months after Hasina fled to India on August 5, 2024, following weeks of violent unrest that left at least 1,400 people dead and thousands injured, according to a United Nations report. The report detailed systematic human rights violations by Hasina's government, security forces, and Awami League affiliates during the protests from July 1 to August 15, 2024, with the majority of deaths resulting from gunfire by security personnel. Among the victims were 12 to 13 children. Hasina, who had led Bangladesh for 16 years, was sentenced to death on November 17, 2024, by the International Crimes Tribunal for crimes against humanity related to the crackdown. She has denied ordering the violence and described the tribunal as biased and politically motivated.

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus assumed leadership of an...