Bangladesh Nationalist Party to form government by Sunday

The Bangladesh elections concluded with a decisive victory for the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which announced it would form a new government by Sunday following its win in the first parliamentary vote since the July 2024 uprising that ousted the Awami League administration.

“The government will be formed by Feb. 15. The BNP will go to parliament with all parties,” the party’s Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told reporters on Friday while visiting his constituency in the north-western Thakurgaon district.

According to the Constitution, a party requires 151 seats in the 300-member parliament to form a government. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party BNP and its allies secured 212 seats in Thursday’s vote, comfortably surpassing the threshold. Its main competitor, the bloc led by Jamaat-e-Islami, won 77 seats.

Elections in three constituencies were postponed, while eight other seats were secured by independents and smaller parties.

More than 127.6 million people were eligible to vote, and turnout reached 59.44%, up from 41.8% in the January 2024 elections. Those polls were boycotted by the BNP-Jamaat opposition under the ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government.

Tarique Rahman is likely Prime Ministerial candidate
BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman is widely expected to become the party’s prime ministerial nominee. He assumed leadership of the party following the death of his mother, former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, in December. “It will be the BNP’s government. And BNP will implement its election promises and manifesto, as well as the issues that BNP signed in the July Charter on reforms will be implemented step by step,” Alamgir said.

The party has pledged to implement commitments outlined in the July Charter, which emerged after the Bangladesh July 2024 uprising that reshaped the country’s political landscape.

Alongside the general election, voters participated in a referendum on the “July Charter,” adopted last October to introduce wide-ranging constitutional reforms. The proposal received overwhelming public backing.

BNP to seek Sheikh Hasina’s extradition
In parallel with the government formation process, senior BNP officials confirmed plans to pursue Sheikh Hasina’s extradition proceedings.

BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed told reporters in Dhaka that the incoming government would formally request India to extradite Hasina, who is currently abroad and facing a death sentence at home. “We will demand her (Hasina) extradition as per the law. This is a matter for the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry and the Indian External Affairs Ministry. We will demand from the Indian government that she be sent back to face trial,” he said.

In November, a court in Bangladesh sentenced Hasina to death in absentia on charges of crimes against humanity committed during the July 2024 uprising that removed her government. According to the United Nations, at least 1,400 people were killed during the crackdown on protests.

The interim administration led by Muhammad Yunus had previously submitted multiple requests seeking her extradition.

With a parliamentary majority secured and a reform referendum approved, the BNP now prepares to assume office amid heightened expectations for political restructuring and accountability following the events of 2024.