Bangladesh Election Commission on Thursday has announced that the country’s next general elections will be held on February 12, 2026, marking the first election since last year’s unrest that led to the ouster of Sheikh Hasina.
Apart from voting elections, a national referendum on the July charter will also be held on the same day, proposing significant reforms to state institutions, curbing executive powers and strengthening judicial independence. Voting will be held simultaneously for all 300 parliamentary seats, this will be Bangladesh’s first ever twin polls.
Schedule for Nominations
As per the schedule, nominations are to be filed by December 29, 2025, which will be scrutinised from December 30 to January 4 next year. The last date for withdrawing nominations is January 20, the CEC said. Electoral symbols will be allotted and the final list of the candidates will be published on January 21.
Candidates are allowed to campaign from January 22 to February 10, until 48 hours before the election. The Election Commission (EC) has finalised plans for 42,761 polling centres and 2,44,739 booths for around 127.6 million voters. Polling is scheduled to continue from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., an hour longer, as voters will cast both their votes and referendum ballots.
Awami League to be out of the competition
This will be the first national election since the violent student-led uprising that ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024. The interim administration led by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus has been governing the country since then. The interim government has banned the activities of Sheikh Hasina’s Bangladesh Awami League, and EC postponed the party registration. Awami League will not be able to contest the election unless the interim government lifts the ban.
It is believed that the main competition in the upcoming elections will be between former PM Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami. And beyond that, the newly formed National Citizens Party (NCP), which led the uprising against Sheikh Hasina.
Bangladesh’s election will feature eco-friendly measures like a ban on campaign posters and an online postal ballot system that has already registered nearly 3 lakh expatriate voters. The poll is viewed as a pivotal test for the country’s democracy, economy, relations with India, and judicial independence.
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