Polls have officially closed in Bangladesh's historic election, viewed as a key showdown between Tarique Rahman's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and an 11-party coalition led by Shafiqur Rahman, the head of the resurgent Jamaat-e-Islami party.
Opinion polls suggest Tarique Rahman is the leading contender for prime minister, but the Jamaat-led alliance, which includes the National Citizen Party (NCP) formed by student leaders from the 2024 uprising, could still deliver an unexpected result, News.Az reports, citing Al Jazeera.
The parliament consists of 350 lawmakers, with 300 elected directly from single-member constituencies and an additional 50 seats reserved for women. Elections were held for 299 seats due to the death of a candidate.
A referendum on political reforms, including term limits for the prime minister, stronger checks on executive power, and safeguards against the concentration of parliamentary power, was also conducted.
