Bangladesh nationalists win landslide election victory

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has claimed a landslide victory in the country's first election since the 2024 student-led uprising, which resulted in the ousting of Sheikh Hasina.

- ALISHA RAHAMAN SARKAR IN DHAKA, BANGLADESH

Despite a ban on former prime minister Hasina’s Awami League, the election has been touted as Bangladesh’s first truly competitive vote in years, and garnered a turnout of just under 60 per cent.

BNP’s media unit said the party had secured enough seats to govern with a majority as ballots were still being counted in the pivotal vote to restore political stability in the troubled South Asian country.

Opinion polls had made the BNP favourites and the party lived up to the forecasts, with the coalition it dominates winning a combined total of 212 seats - enough for an overwhelming two-thirds majority among the 300 seats that are directly elected. Another 50 seats are allocated by proportional representation.

BNP leader Tarique Rahman, the son of former prime minister Khaleda Zia, is expected to take the oath to become prime minister on Tuesday.