BNP CLAIMS BANGLADESH ELECTION WIN, JAMAAT ‘NOT SATISFIED’ WITH VOTE COUNT

Fri 13 February 2026:

Following yesterday’s election, Bangladesh’s Election Commission has announced that the BNP has so far secured 209 seats, the Jamaat-e-Islami, 68, as counting continues, according to the Reuters news agency.

While official results are not yet out, the BNP looks to be on track to secure its victory and claim a majority stake in government.

The BNP chairman, Tarique Rahman, was also unofficially declared elected from the Dhaka-17 and Bogura-6 constituencies according to Bangladesh’s The Daily Star.

With the election being a dual-vote, the results of the referendum are also yet to be announced, but The Daily Star reported that 65.5 percent of votes are in favour of adopting the reforms while only 34.5 percent of voters cast a no vote.

Jamaat, which is yet to concede defeat, says it is not “satisfied” with the vote count and is raising “serious questions about the integrity of the results process”.

Official results have not yet been announced by the Bangladesh Election Commission.

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Voter turnout at 59.44%: Election Commission

Bangladesh’s Election Commission has reported a 59.44 percent turnout for yesterday’s election.

Election Commissioner Abul Fazal Md Sanaullah said in a statement that they were committed to ensuring a transparent and impartial election.

He also asked that any administrative shortcomings be forgiven and that the commission aim to organise better elections in the future.

A reminder that the Election Commission’s results website remains inaccessible and no results have yet been posted on the page.

This is the unofficial result, EC official tells Al Jazeera

Bangladesh’s Election Commission secretary Akhtar Hossain has told Al Jazeera that the BNP has secured a commanding lead, according to unofficial results.

“This is the unofficial result. We will issue the gazette notification of the results soon,” he said.

The Bangladesh Election Commission held voting in 299 of the country’s 300 parliamentary constituencies on February 12.

However, results from two constituencies – Chattogram-3 and Chattogram-8 – remain withheld due to court restrictions, while the election in Sherpur-3, in the northeast bordering India, was cancelled after a candidate died a week before the polls.

Earlier, India declined Bangladesh’s invitation to send observers for the country’s elections, a spokesperson for India’s foreign ministry said.

“We did receive an invitation to send observers. We have not sent our observers to Bangladesh to observe the elections,” Randhir Jaiswal said during a press briefing in New Delhi, Bangladeshi news outlet Daily Star reported.

BNP urges supporters not to celebrate publicly

The BNP has once again “directed all leaders, activists, and supporters to refrain from victory processions or public celebrations”.

“Instead, we call upon the nation to observe a day of prayers today (February 13), seeking peace, stability, and guidance for the future of Bangladesh,” the party’s media wing wrote on social media.

The BNP has previously also asked supporters to refrain from large celebrations and offer special prayers instead, as chairman Tarique Rahman was seen waving to supporters from a car on his way to a Dhaka mosque.

China congratulates BNP on ‘taking the lead’

China has applauded the BNP’s unofficial victory, with its embassy in Dhaka saying “congratulations to the people of Bangladesh on the smooth and successful 13th National Parliamentary Election and to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party for taking the lead in the election”.

“We look forward to working together with the new government of Bangladesh and writing new chapters of China-Bangladesh relations,” it added.

Bangladesh overwhelmingly votes in favour of referendum: Election Commission

Alongside the vote to decide which party will govern the country, Bangladesh voted on whether to adopt a referendum on a series of government reforms.

The Election Commission announced that 48,074,429 (60.26 percent) of votes were in favour of adopting the referendum, with 22,565,627 people voting against it.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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