Tuesday, 30 December, 2025
The curtain has risen on the first act of the decisive post-July Uprising parliamentary election, unfolding in an atmosphere closer to a national spectacle than a routine political exercise.
From the capital to the districts, nomination papers poured in as Election Commission offices throbbed with expectation—buzzing with debate, rivalries, and the restless hope of campaigners sensing a moment of reckoning.
More than 2,500 aspirants have now formally entered the contest, an average of over eight candidates per seat, setting the stage for a fiercely crowded Feb 12 race that is shaping up to be one of the most consequential and unpredictable elections in recent memory.
For the first time in three decades, the Awami League -- the country’s long-dominant political force -- will be absent from the ballot. Ousted in last year’s upheaval and barred from political activity, the party leaves a yawning void, reshaping alliances and redrawing the electoral map.
In its absence, rival coalitions led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Jamaat-e-Islami are staking their claims, while smaller parties scramble to carve out influence, their hopes mingled with caution and resolve.
Two of the Awami League’s allies in the former 14-party alliance -- the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JaSaD) and the Workers Party -- have also announced a boycott.
The streets around nomination offices have teemed with supporters and officials, charged with anticipation, debate, and the precise choreography of a democratic ritual. For many, the act of filing papers feels less like a routine procedure and more like the opening scene of a drama whose outcome could shape Bangladesh’s political landscape for years.
Yet beneath the spectacle, questions linger over security, fairness, and the balance of political power.
The Election Commission, however, has expressed satisfaction with the proceedings so far, highlighting the participation of “most parties,” including the BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, the National Citizen Party (NCP), and the Jatiya Party, and noting that the overall environment has remained calm.
Speaking on Monday evening after the close of nomination submissions, Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Masud said the process had been unusually smooth.
“The overall situation is good. There was no trouble anywhere, and no complaints of violations of the electoral code of conduct,” he said. “Usually there are minor clashes, scuffles, or showdowns. This time, we did not see any of that.”
He ruled out extending the nomination deadline, describing the level of interest as encouraging.
“Many candidates came forward, many parties were involved. That is a good sign for the election,” he said, adding that the commission expected parties to maintain the same discipline through polling day and cooperate fully with election authorities.
More Than Eight Hopefuls Battle for Every Seat
Election analyst Abdul Alim cautioned that sustaining the current calm would be crucial in the weeks ahead. With nomination scrutiny, appeals, and campaigning still to come, some parties have already raised concerns about the lack of a level playing field.
“The parties need to be taken into confidence, and the field must be made as even as possible,” he said.
Alim does not foresee the “election train” being derailed if the environment holds, but he warned that attempts to disrupt the process cannot be ruled out.
“There is no guarantee that no one will try,” he said, urging vigilance from law enforcement and restraint from political actors. “There is no alternative to an election.”
According to ASM Humayun Kabir, convenor of the Election Commission Secretariat’s central coordination committee and director general of the NID wing, 3,407 nomination forms were collected nationwide, with 2,582 ultimately submitted.
Dhaka Division led with 444 submissions across 41 constituencies, followed by Mymensingh with 311 across 38 seats, and Cumilla with 365 across 35 seats -- averaging more than eight nominations per constituency.
The commission has not yet provided a consolidated figure on how many of the 59 registered parties are contesting or how many candidates are independent.
Although crowded, the total number of nominations is lower than in the past two elections: 2,741 candidates in the 2024 parliamentary elections amid a BNP boycott, and 3,065 in 2018 when 39 parties participated.
Nominations closed on Monday, with scrutiny scheduled for Dec 30 to Jan 4, appeals from Jan 5-9, and disposal by Jan 18. Candidates may withdraw by Jan 20, and polling is set for Feb 12, 2026, from 7:30am to 4:30pm.
Election law permits candidates to contest in up to three seats and submit multiple nomination papers in the same constituency; one paper will be validated if requirements are met.
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has filed in Bogura-3, Feni-1, and Dinajpur-3, with alternate candidates named due to her health.
Following amendments to the Representation of the People Order (RPO), uncontested elections are no longer possible; even single-candidate seats will include a “No” vote. The commission retains the power to cancel polling at any centre or constituency if needed.
Election Commissioner Md Anwarul Islam Sarker said complaints so far were “not serious enough to merit action” but stressed that violations would not be tolerated.
“Everything must be rule-based. Anyone who steps outside the law will not be spared,” he said. “This election is heading towards strong competition. No irregularity will be indulged, and any attempt to exert influence will invite trouble.”
Coalition Arithmetic: New Alignments Emerge
For decades, parliamentary contests were defined by a familiar binary: Awami League versus BNP, or the alliances they led. That pattern fractured during the Awami League’s 15-year rule, when the BNP and its allies boycotted the 2014 and 2024 elections, leaving both polls largely uncontested.
This year, the political landscape has shifted once again. Ousted in last year’s July Uprising, the Awami League remains sidelined, its registration suspended and allies absent. Yet the resulting vacuum has not produced a one-sided race.
A new configuration of power is emerging. Jamaat-e-Islami has risen as a central pole, while the BNP has rebuilt its electoral machinery through a network of strategic understandings. Both are contesting independently, each at the heart of a loose “accommodation alliance” drawing in parties large and small, setting the stage for a parliamentary battle that defies old formulas.
The BNP’s coalition encompasses Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam Bangladesh, Nagorik Oikya, Bangladesh Jatiya Party (Kazi Zafar), Islami Oikya Jote, Ganosamhati Andolon, Revolutionary Workers Party, National People’s Party, and Gono Odhikar Parishad.
It has also absorbed figures from outside its formal ranks, including Shahadat Hossain Salim of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Syed Ehsanul Huda, Bobby Hajjaj of National Democratic Movement, and Redwan Ahmed of the LCP, all contesting under the BNP symbol.
The Jamaat-e-Islami, meanwhile, spent months mobilising with seven religion-based parties: Islami Andolan Bangladesh, Khelafat Majlis, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis, Bangladesh Khelafat Andolon, Jatiya Ganotantrik Party (JAGPA), Bangladesh Nezame Islam Party, and Bangladesh Development Party.
In recent weeks, the alliance expanded as the youth-led NCP, Oli Ahmed’s LDP, and AB Party joined.
The late move cost the NCP: several leaders quit, some ran as independents, others collected papers only to abstain. Former advisor Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain joined the NCP but will not stand, and Mahfuj Alam did not participate.
Political analyst Prof Asif Mohammad Shahan notes that while nominations were filed peacefully, “I am a little anxious about the message candidates will bring once campaigning begins.”
He warns that without a focus on policy and governance, the contest risks sliding into “abuse and antagonism” rather than celebration. He does not expect the Jatiya Party to emerge as a decisive challenger, adding that surveys suggest Awami League voters are likely to choose between the BNP and Jamaat rather than swing en masse to the Jatiya Party.
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The curtain has risen on the first act of the decisive post-July Uprising parliamentary election, unfolding in an atmosphere closer to a national spectacle than a routine political exercise.
From the capital to the districts, nomination papers poured in as Election Commission offices throbbed with expectation—buzzing with debate, rivalries, and the restless hope of campaigners sensing a moment of reckoning.
More than 2,500 aspirants have now formally entered the contest, an average of over eight candidates per seat, setting the stage for a fiercely crowded Feb 12 race that is shaping up to be one of the most consequential and unpredictable elections in recent memory.
For the first time in three decades, the Awami League -- the country’s long-dominant political force -- will be absent from the ballot. Ousted in last year’s upheaval and barred from political activity, the party leaves a yawning void, reshaping alliances and redrawing the electoral map.
In its absence, rival coalitions led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Jamaat-e-Islami are staking their claims, while smaller parties scramble to carve out influence, their hopes mingled with caution and resolve.
Two of the Awami League’s allies in the former 14-party alliance -- the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JaSaD) and the Workers Party -- have also announced a boycott.
The streets around nomination offices have teemed with supporters and officials, charged with anticipation, debate, and the precise choreography of a democratic ritual. For many, the act of filing papers feels less like a routine procedure and more like the opening scene of a drama whose outcome could shape Bangladesh’s political landscape for years.
Yet beneath the spectacle, questions linger over security, fairness, and the balance of political power.
The Election Commission, however, has expressed satisfaction with the proceedings so far, highlighting the participation of “most parties,” including the BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, the National Citizen Party (NCP), and the Jatiya Party, and noting that the overall environment has remained calm.
Speaking on Monday evening after the close of nomination submissions, Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Masud said the process had been unusually smooth.
“The overall situation is good. There was no trouble anywhere, and no complaints of violations of the electoral code of conduct,” he said. “Usually there are minor clashes, scuffles, or showdowns. This time, we did not see any of that.”
He ruled out extending the nomination deadline, describing the level of interest as encouraging.
“Many candidates came forward, many parties were involved. That is a good sign for the election,” he said, adding that the commission expected parties to maintain the same discipline through polling day and cooperate fully with election authorities.
More Than Eight Hopefuls Battle for Every Seat
Election analyst Abdul Alim cautioned that sustaining the current calm would be crucial in the weeks ahead. With nomination scrutiny, appeals, and campaigning still to come, some parties have already raised concerns about the lack of a level playing field.
“The parties need to be taken into confidence, and the field must be made as even as possible,” he said.
Alim does not foresee the “election train” being derailed if the environment holds, but he warned that attempts to disrupt the process cannot be ruled out.
“There is no guarantee that no one will try,” he said, urging vigilance from law enforcement and restraint from political actors. “There is no alternative to an election.”
According to ASM Humayun Kabir, convenor of the Election Commission Secretariat’s central coordination committee and director general of the NID wing, 3,407 nomination forms were collected nationwide, with 2,582 ultimately submitted.
Dhaka Division led with 444 submissions across 41 constituencies, followed by Mymensingh with 311 across 38 seats, and Cumilla with 365 across 35 seats -- averaging more than eight nominations per constituency.
The commission has not yet provided a consolidated figure on how many of the 59 registered parties are contesting or how many candidates are independent.
Although crowded, the total number of nominations is lower than in the past two elections: 2,741 candidates in the 2024 parliamentary elections amid a BNP boycott, and 3,065 in 2018 when 39 parties participated.
Nominations closed on Monday, with scrutiny scheduled for Dec 30 to Jan 4, appeals from Jan 5-9, and disposal by Jan 18. Candidates may withdraw by Jan 20, and polling is set for Feb 12, 2026, from 7:30am to 4:30pm.
Election law permits candidates to contest in up to three seats and submit multiple nomination papers in the same constituency; one paper will be validated if requirements are met.
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has filed in Bogura-3, Feni-1, and Dinajpur-3, with alternate candidates named due to her health.
Following amendments to the Representation of the People Order (RPO), uncontested elections are no longer possible; even single-candidate seats will include a “No” vote. The commission retains the power to cancel polling at any centre or constituency if needed.
Election Commissioner Md Anwarul Islam Sarker said complaints so far were “not serious enough to merit action” but stressed that violations would not be tolerated.
“Everything must be rule-based. Anyone who steps outside the law will not be spared,” he said. “This election is heading towards strong competition. No irregularity will be indulged, and any attempt to exert influence will invite trouble.”
Coalition Arithmetic: New Alignments Emerge
For decades, parliamentary contests were defined by a familiar binary: Awami League versus BNP, or the alliances they led. That pattern fractured during the Awami League’s 15-year rule, when the BNP and its allies boycotted the 2014 and 2024 elections, leaving both polls largely uncontested.
This year, the political landscape has shifted once again. Ousted in last year’s July Uprising, the Awami League remains sidelined, its registration suspended and allies absent. Yet the resulting vacuum has not produced a one-sided race.
A new configuration of power is emerging. Jamaat-e-Islami has risen as a central pole, while the BNP has rebuilt its electoral machinery through a network of strategic understandings. Both are contesting independently, each at the heart of a loose “accommodation alliance” drawing in parties large and small, setting the stage for a parliamentary battle that defies old formulas.
The BNP’s coalition encompasses Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam Bangladesh, Nagorik Oikya, Bangladesh Jatiya Party (Kazi Zafar), Islami Oikya Jote, Ganosamhati Andolon, Revolutionary Workers Party, National People’s Party, and Gono Odhikar Parishad.
It has also absorbed figures from outside its formal ranks, including Shahadat Hossain Salim of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Syed Ehsanul Huda, Bobby Hajjaj of National Democratic Movement, and Redwan Ahmed of the LCP, all contesting under the BNP symbol.
The Jamaat-e-Islami, meanwhile, spent months mobilising with seven religion-based parties: Islami Andolan Bangladesh, Khelafat Majlis, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis, Bangladesh Khelafat Andolon, Jatiya Ganotantrik Party (JAGPA), Bangladesh Nezame Islam Party, and Bangladesh Development Party.
In recent weeks, the alliance expanded as the youth-led NCP, Oli Ahmed’s LDP, and AB Party joined.
The late move cost the NCP: several leaders quit, some ran as independents, others collected papers only to abstain. Former advisor Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain joined the NCP but will not stand, and Mahfuj Alam did not participate.
Political analyst Prof Asif Mohammad Shahan notes that while nominations were filed peacefully, “I am a little anxious about the message candidates will bring once campaigning begins.”
He warns that without a focus on policy and governance, the contest risks sliding into “abuse and antagonism” rather than celebration. He does not expect the Jatiya Party to emerge as a decisive challenger, adding that surveys suggest Awami League voters are likely to choose between the BNP and Jamaat rather than swing en masse to the Jatiya Party.
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