Bangladesh held its first election since student-led protests ousted longtime leader Sheikh Hasina in 2024, with ballot counting underway after polls closed. The contest pits the Bangladesh Nationalist Party's Tarique Rahman against Jamaat-e-Islami chief Shafiqur Rahman, with nearly 127 million registered voters.

The election is viewed as the first free and fair vote since 2008 and includes a parallel referendum on constitutional reforms designed to prevent future autocracy, with results expected by Friday morning.

Farhana Sultana, professor of geography and the environment, says the election is “the first genuinely competitive national vote in nearly two decades,” making it a “historic” moment for Bangladesh.

Sultana says that the credit for the election “should go first to the Bangladeshi people, especially youth and civil society activists who catalysed change through sustained pressure and sacrificed life and limb during the uprising.”

The interim government of Yunus should also be acknowledged for pushing for “a relatively open process and timely” election, “despite immense challenges”, she adds.

Read more in the Al Jazeera article, “Bangladesh election 2026 updates: Shafiqur Rahman, Tarique Rahman vote.”