BNP Wins Landslide in Bangladesh Vote as Reform Referendum Passes

Overview

• Official tallies show the BNP and allies winning at least 212 of 299 seats, with Jamaat-e-Islami and partners taking 77 and two results pending, according to the Election Commission.
• Turnout reached nearly 60%, far above 2024’s 42%, in what observers described as the most competitive national vote in years.
• Voters approved constitutional changes by roughly 48 million to 23 million, including a neutral caretaker for elections, a bicameral legislature, stronger judicial independence, greater female representation, and a two‑term limit for prime ministers.
• The protest-born Partido Nacional Cidadão secured only six seats, underscoring the difficulty of converting street mobilization into parliamentary power.
• Authorities deployed about 958,000 security personnel, with no widespread violence reported despite isolated incidents that included a BNP leader’s death in Khulna and a bomb injury case in Gopalganj; with the Awami League barred and Sheikh Hasina in exile in India after a 2025 death sentence, foreign leaders offered congratulations as the BNP signaled it would seek her extradition.