Shafiqur Rahman, the chief of the Jamaat-e-Islami get together, speaks throughout a Jamaat-led alliance rally in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Feb. 8.
Sajjad Hussain/AFP by way of Getty Photos
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Sajjad Hussain/AFP by way of Getty Photos
DHAKA, Bangladesh – An Islamist get together has turn into Bangladesh’s primary opposition for the primary time within the nation’s historical past, difficult the previous dynastic political system regardless of persistent considerations amongst critics concerning the get together’s insurance policies on girls.
Jamaat-e-Islami’s 11-party alliance received 77 of 300 seats in final week’s polls, in line with closing outcomes introduced by the nation’s election fee on Sunday. Of these, Jamaat received 68, a document excessive. It had by no means earlier than received greater than 18 seats. The scholar-led Nationwide Citizen Get together (NCP) received six and the rest went to minor events.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Get together (BNP) received a landslide 212 seats, giving it the two-thirds majority and setting Tarique Rahman, who hails from a strong political household, heading in the right direction to turn into prime minister. Developments in Bangladesh are being intently watched past its borders. It’s the world’s eighth-most populous nation and second-largest garment exporter after China, supplying main manufacturers to Europe and the US – a place the BNP will probably be eager to guard.
The nation’s different main get together, the Awami League, was banned from collaborating within the polls. Its chief, former autocratic prime minister Sheikh Hasina, fled the nation after the lethal 2024 student-led rebellion that toppled her authorities and paved the best way for this vote.
Individuals provide Friday prayers on a highway outdoors a mosque a day after the nationwide parliamentary election in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026.
Anupam Nath/AP
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Anupam Nath/AP
Jamaat-e-Islami’s chief, Shafiqur Rahman, who is just not associated to the BNP’s Tarique Rahman, initially claimed there had been irregularities throughout voting. He later conceded defeat and stated in an announcement: “We acknowledge the general final result and we respect the rule of legislation. We’ll function a vigilant, principled, and peaceable opposition, holding the federal government to account.”
A stunning end result after many years on the periphery
Jamaat’s end result has come as a shock to many, partially as a result of the get together opposed Bangladesh’s independence in 1971 and sided with Pakistan throughout the warfare.
On the time, its leaders had been accused of committing widespread atrocities, together with rape, torture and homicide — accusations the get together has persistently rejected.
A few of its senior members had been tried and located responsible of these crimes in a specifically fashioned courtroom from 2010 to 2013, when the Awami League was in energy. Some got dying sentences, whereas others acquired life imprisonment. Jamaat maintains that the trials had been politically motivated.
The get together was additionally banned at varied instances, most not too long ago by the Awami League in 2023. The ban was lifted following the 2024 rebellion, permitting Jamaat to reemerge as a significant electoral contender.
“Many citizens are younger, they usually do not prefer to reside previously. They wish to construct their future. Jamaat has been saying issues that appear extra sensible and achievable,” Maimul Ahsan Khan, a retired legislation professor of legislation at Dhaka College, instructed NPR.
Nonetheless, he added, “I feel Jamaat would have gotten much more seats if it didn’t have the previous baggage of affinity to Pakistan and 1971.”
Girls queue as much as solid their vote at a polling station throughout Bangladesh’s nationwide parliamentary election, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026.
Mahmud Hossain Opu/AP
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Mahmud Hossain Opu/AP
Observers say the end result might mark simply step one for Jamaat in rebuilding its political affect.
“With 77 seats, now we have practically quadrupled our parliamentary presence and turn into one of many strongest opposition blocs in trendy Bangladeshi politics. That isn’t a setback. That may be a basis,” stated Shafiqur Rahman.
Civil rights considerations
Whereas greater than 90 % of Bangladesh’s inhabitants is Muslim, its political system ensures equal rights for minority religions.
Though Jamaat has Sharia — or Islamic — legislation enshrined in its structure, it has not too long ago softened its public picture, taking a extra reasonable tone on faith and saying it is going to respect Bangladesh’s political system.
It fielded one Hindu candidate throughout the election however no girls, and Shafiqur Rahman has publicly stated no girl can lead the get together.
Nonetheless, Jon Danilowicz, an impartial political analyst and retired former diplomat who served in Bangladesh, instructed NPR that violence in opposition to minority teams in Bangladesh has a protracted historical past and is usually pushed by components in addition to ideology alone.
“Usually it is pushed by economics and different points,” he says, and minority teams have “been equally victimized by the BNP and Awami League.”
Danilowicz says that regarding the get together’s remedy of ladies, “they body it as safety and security and by way of household and preserving the position of ladies inside a household construction.”
Jamaat’s first checks are to display that it will possibly maintain the brand new authorities accountable and to implement the July Nationwide Constitution — a set of reforms to stop a return to autocracy — which might assist to reassure tens of millions of Bangladeshis who nonetheless mistrust the get together.
