BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman on Sunday signed his nomination papers to contest the 13th national parliamentary election from Dhaka-17 and Bogura-6 constituencies with the party’s electoral symbol, the Sheaf of Paddy. Tarique signed the nomination papers in the evening at the BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office in the presence of party coordinators of the two constituencies, said BNP media cell member Sayrul Kabir Khan. For the Dhaka-17 constituency, BNP Chairperson’s Advisory Council member Abdus Salam has been appointed as the chief coordinator, while Advisory Council member Prof Dr Farhad Halim Donar will also play a key coordinating role in leading the election activities. Party sources said Tarique’s nomination papers for both the Dhaka-17 and Bogura-6 constituencies will be submitted on Monday. Earlier, BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed said Tarique will contest the upcoming parliamentary election from two seats—Bogura-6 and Dhaka-17—as part of the party’s election strategy. The 13th parliamentary election is scheduled to be held on February 12 next year. Meanwhile, Tarique sat with BNP leaders and activists, including those from its associate bodies of the Dhaka-17 constituency, and exchanged views on organisational and election-related matters, Sayrul said.

Ahmedur Rahman Tanu, who received the National Citizen Party nomination for Narayanganj-5 seat, has scrapped his plan to contest in the parliamentary polls. He announced the decision in a message sent to the media on Sunday. Tanu is a member of the party’s central committee and also the joint coordinator of the party in Narayanganj. “I have decided to abandon my intention to participate in the election from NCP in light of the current political realities and personal considerations,” he said. His announcement comes following NCP leaders resigning from the party over its decision to enter an alliance with the Jamaat-e-Islami. Tanu said it was entirely his personal and political decision and that he was not motivated by any hostility toward any individual, group, or party. He, however, promises to continue working for the country. Tanu is a director at the Narayanganj Chamber of Commerce and Industry. His father-in-law Abul Kalam was elected a lawmaker three times from the seat with a BNP ticket. Abul Kalam has collected nomination papers to contest in the general election. Earlier, NCP senior joint member secretary Tasnim Jara announced that she will contest the upcoming parliamentary election in Dhaka-9 as an independent candidate. Addressing residents of Khilgaon, Sabujbagh, and Mugda in a Facebook post, she explained that while she had long aspired to enter parliament through a political party platform, the current political realities compelled her to step away from contesting as a nominee of any party or alliance. Describing herself as a “daughter of the area,” Jara emphasised her roots in Khilgaon and her longstanding commitment to the community. She recalled her earlier promise to fight for the people and contribute to building a new political culture in Bangladesh. “Regardless of the circumstances, I remain determined to keep that promise. For this reason, I will contest the Dhaka-9 seat as an independent candidate,” she declared, signalling both her personal resolve and a commitment to principle over party alignment.

Myanmar held the first round of its phased general election on Sunday, the country’s first since the 2021 military coup, amid a backdrop of civil unrest and widespread doubts over the poll’s credibility. Early reports indicated low voter turnout. The military junta, which crushed pro-democracy protests after seizing power and triggered a nationwide rebellion, claims the vote will restore political stability to the impoverished nation. However, the election has drawn international criticism, with the United Nations, Western governments, and human rights organisations describing it as neither free nor fair. Opposition parties are barred from participating, and criticism of the polls is illegal, raising serious questions about the legitimacy of the process. Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, deposed by the military months after her National League for Democracy won a general election landslide in 2020, remains in detention and the party she led to power has been dissolved. The military-aligned Union Solidarity and Development Party, led by retired generals and fielding one-fifth of all candidates against severely diminished competition, is set to return to power, said Lalita Hanwong, a lecturer and Myanmar expert at Thailand's Kasetsart University. "The junta's election is designed to prolong the military's power of slavery over people," she said. "And USDP and other allied parties with the military will join forces to form the next government." In the lacklustre canvassing ahead of the polls, the USDP was the most visible. Founded in 2010, the year it won an election boycotted by the opposition, the party ran the country in concert with its military backers until 2015, when it was swept away by Suu Kyi's NLD. Low Voter Turnout Reported Voter turnout in Sunday's polls appeared much lower than in the 2020 election, 10 residents of cities spread across Myanmar said. Further rounds of voting will be held on January 11 and January 25, covering 265 of Myanmar's 330 townships, although the junta does not have complete control of all those areas. Armed groups formed in the wake of the coup and long-established ethnic armies are fighting the military across swathes of the country, displacing some 3.6 million people and creating one of Asia's worst humanitarian crises. A date for the final election result has not been declared. Dressed in civilian clothes, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing voted in the heavily guarded capital city of Naypyitaw, then held up an ink-soaked little finger, smiling widely, footage on state media MRTV showed. Voters must dip a finger into indelible ink after casting a ballot to ensure they do not vote more than once. Asked by reporters if he would like to become the country's president, an office that analysts say he has ambitions for, the general said he was not the leader of any political party. "When the parliament convenes, there is a process for electing the president," he said. Poll Rejected by UN, Junta Optimistic The junta's attempt to establish a stable administration in the midst of war is fraught with risk, and broad foreign recognition is unlikely for any military-controlled government with a civilian veneer, according to analysts. Tom Andrews, the UN special envoy for human rights in Myanmar, said on Sunday the election was not a pathway out of the country's crisis and must be strongly rejected. Zaw Min Tun, a junta spokesperson, acknowledged international criticism of the vote. "However, from this election, there will be political stability," he told reporters after voting in Naypyitaw. "We believe there will be a better future." Nevertheless, Myanmar's voters did not come out in numbers close to the previous election conducted under COVID-19 restrictions, including in the commercial capital of Yangon and the central city of Mandalay, residents said. The junta's legal framework for the election has no minimum voter turnout requirement, said the Asian Network for Free Elections poll monitoring group. Turnout was about 70 perce in Myanmar's 2020 and 2015 general elections, according to the US-based nonprofit International Foundation for Electoral Systems. There has been none of the energy and excitement of previous election campaigns, although several residents in Myanmar's largest cities who spoke to Reuters did not report any coercion by the military administration to push people to vote. A handful of polling booths in Yangon, some of them near areas housing military families, had dozens of voters queued up around midday, but others were largely empty, according to two residents of the sprawling metropolis. "It isn't as loud and enthusiastic as it was back in 2020," said a Mandalay resident, asking not to be named because of security concerns. The streets of Hakha, capital of the northern state of Chin, where fighting rages on, were empty after a local rebel group told residents to boycott the vote, two residents said. "People from my quarter, none of us went to vote," said one of them, a 63-year-old man. "We are not interested in the election."