Bangladesh prepares for a pivotal vote because the interim authorities struggles to revive stability and belief.
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Bangladesh will maintain a parliamentary election on February 12, authorities mentioned, in what can be the nation’s first nationwide vote since final 12 months’s student-led uprising that eliminated former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
In a televised tackle on Thursday, the chief election commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin confirmed the date and mentioned a nationwide referendum on political reforms would even be held on the identical day.
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The announcement comes because the interim administration struggles to regular the political panorama. The caretaker authorities, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, has confronted renewed demonstrations over delays to political and institutional reforms promised after Hasina’s elimination from energy.
Hasina’s get together stays excluded from the poll, and its leaders have warned that unrest might escalate because the marketing campaign gathers tempo.
Yunus framed the election schedule as a turning level, saying the nation had moved nearer to reclaiming democratic norms. “Bangladesh’s democratic journey has crossed an essential milestone, strengthening the brand new path the nation has taken after the historic mass rebellion,” he mentioned.
The turbulence of the transition sharpened on Thursday after President Mohammed Shahabuddin, appointed to the largely symbolic publish throughout Hasina’s tenure, introduced he would resign as soon as voting concludes. He informed the information company Reuters he supposed to step apart halfway by way of his time period, saying he had felt humiliated by the Yunus authorities.
Many citizens are focussed on restoring democratic rule, reviving the important garment-export trade, and recalibrating ties with India, which soured after Hasina fled to India following the upheaval.
Referendum on ‘July Constitution’ reforms
Election officers say practically 128 million folks will have the ability to solid ballots throughout greater than 42,000 polling stations in contests for 300 seats. The ballot will coincide with a referendum on the “July Constitution”, a reform blueprint drafted within the speedy aftermath of the rebellion.
Uddin mentioned that the vote would decide whether or not the Constitution turns into the premise for restructuring state establishments.
The doc proposes lowering government authority, enhancing the judiciary’s independence, strengthening the electoral fee, and stopping the political misuse of law-enforcement companies.
The race is anticipated to be dominated by the Bangladesh Nationalist Get together (BNP), led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. The BNP is competing alongside Jamaat-e-Islami, which is returning to electoral politics for the primary time since a 2013 court docket ruling barred it below the nation’s secular structure.
A brand new political power, the Nationwide Citizen Get together, fashioned by student leaders who helped organise the 2024 rebellion, lags behind, struggling to transform its road mobilisation right into a nationwide electoral base.
The BNP has additionally formally ended its longstanding alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami, presenting itself as an alternative as a liberal and democratic various within the post-Hasina period.
