As the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) prepares to form a government in Dhaka, a South Asian expert noted that the people of the country ‘voted for stability’, despite the challenges ahead.
Bangladesh looks poised for a critical reset in its domestic and foreign policies after the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) registered a landslide victory in the February 12 parliamentary election, a first since the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina government in 2024. Led by Tairque Rahman, the BNP government is slated to be sworn in on Tuesday, taking the reins of power from the Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus-led interim administration.
While the
Bangladesh Nationalist Party prepares to form a government in Dhaka, there is concern about political stability in Bangladesh, which saw targeted violence across the country amid the rise of radical groups. A noted South Asian expert told Firstpost that the people of the country “voted for stability”, despite the challenges ahead. Pearl Pandya, South Asia Senior Analyst of the South Asia Senior Analyst (ACLED), said that BNP’s landslide win in the election reflected that the country was coming out of 18 months of rising vigilantism and political violence.
“After over 18 months of rising vigilantism and political violence under the interim administration, a decisive victory for the establishment BNP appears to be a vote for stability. Despite the scale, the path ahead for the incoming government may be anything but smooth,” Pandya told Firstpost.
She also pointed towards the strong performance of Islamist
Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), insisting that “rising political ascendancy of Islamist parties may also heighten anxiety among the country’s religious and sectarian minorities.”
Did Awami League voters stay away?
Noting the 61 per cent voter turnout, Pandya emphasised that the turnout was “enough to blunt the barred
Awami League’s call for a boycott and dent its claims of illegitimacy”. However, she admitted that the turnout fell short of a historic high. “It appears that some of the Awami League base may have chosen to sit out of the polls, and accommodating them in the new political setup will be a delicate task,” she averred.
Pandya also shared her take on the referendum on the constitutional reforms, which the people of Bangladesh voted upon, parallel to choosing their government. “A parallel referendum on constitutional reforms, negotiated after the 2024 Monsoon Revolution to mark a break from the autocratic era of Sheikh Hasina, also appears headed for approval,” Pandya told Firstpost.
“The BNP, which has objected to parts of the package, must now balance its reservations against a clear public sentiment for change. If people are disgruntled with the pace of reforms, they may take to the streets again,” she said.
The BNP on Friday was declared the clear winner in the Bangladesh parliamentary election, winning over 200 seats out of 300.
Jamaat came close second but managed to record the party’s best performance in its history. The elections were crucial since they took place one and a half years after the toppling of former Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina’s government following a violent July uprising. After Hasina’s ousting, Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus took charge and attempted to reconstruct a rattled Bangladesh.
However,
turbulence continued in the country with multiple instances of violence recorded across the country. In his first address after his party’s massive win in the polls, Rahman appealed for unity in the country. “Our paths and opinions may differ, but in the interest of the country, we must remain united,” Rahman said on Saturday in his first speech since the election.
“I firmly believe that national unity is a collective strength, while division is a weakness.”
Meanwhile, Yunus congratulated Rahman for “the landslide victory of his party” as he prepared to step down and hand over power to an elected government.
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