Tariq Rahman's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is on track for a landslide victory in the Asian country's first general election since the fall of Sheikh Hasina's authoritarian regime in the summer of 2024, according to statistical projections from television networks.
As of 5:30 a.m., the BNP has been given more than the 150 seats needed for an absolute majority in parliament, well ahead of its main rival, the Islamist alliance Jamaat-e-Islami, according to Bangladeshi television networks.
The vote count was continuing this morning and the election commission had not yet officially announced the results.
However, two television networks reported that the BNP had secured 197 of the 300 seats in parliament, while the Islamists had 63.
The BNP claimed a "huge victory" but asked its local committees not to hold street celebrations.
"Thanks to the strong support of the people, the BNP will secure a two-thirds majority and form a government," party spokesman Mahathi Amin told reporters at its headquarters.
In an interview with AFP, the BNP leader said he would take on the "huge" task of rebuilding the country that Sheikh Hasina's regime "destroyed."
Hasina fled the country by helicopter in August 2024 after weeks of massive anti-government protests and widespread unrest, led by young students of the so-called Generation Z, who were drowned in blood.
