Bangladesh Nationalist Party wins 209 seats in general election
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by Tarique Rahman, secured 209 out of 299 parliamentary seats in Thursday’s general election, according to a senior official on Friday.
Akhtar Ahmed, senior secretary of the Election Commission (EC), told journalists that the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islam placed second with 68 seats, News.Az reports, citing Xinhua.
Independent candidates and smaller parties won 20 seats.
Under Bangladesh’s parliamentary system, the party that secures a majority in the legislature is entitled to form the government, Ahmed said.
Of the total 300 parliamentary seats, results in two constituencies have been postponed. Voting in another constituency was delayed following the death of an independent candidate.
Ahmed added that voter turnout in Bangladesh’s 13th parliamentary elections reached 59.44 percent among more than 127 million eligible voters nationwide.
Earlier, Asif Nazrul, adviser on law, justice and parliamentary affairs in the interim government, stated that power would be transferred to the newly elected administration before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, expected to begin on or around Feb. 19.
“Following the publication of the official gazette notification of the results, arrangements will be made as quickly as possible for the swearing-in of the newly elected Members of Parliament. The new government will then take the oath,” Nazrul said.
News.Az
By Nijat Babayev
