By Shakir Husain
NEW DELHI, Feb 13 (Bernama) -- The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has won a two-thirds majority in the Bangladesh parliament following Thursday's general elections, unofficial results showed on Friday.
The BNP and its allies have won 213 seats in the 300-member Jatiya Sangsad, while the rival alliance led by the Jamaat-e-Islami has garnered 76 seats, according to provisional tallies published by local media.
Bangladesh’s Election Commission is expected to announce official results later.
With the BNP set to return to power, Bangladesh's politics is entering a new era.
Its 60-year-old leader Tarique Rahman, the son of three-time prime minister Khaleda Zia and former president Ziaur Rahman, returned to Bangladesh from Britain in December after 17 years in exile.
Both the BNP and the Jamaat-e-Islami faced heavy crackdown under former prime minister Sheikh Hasina's long unpopular rule, which ended in a mass uprising in August 2024.
Bangladeshis have also voted "yes" in a referendum on constitutional reforms, held in tandem with the parliamentary election.
These reforms will guide the nation's future political course to ensure that the past abuse of power is not repeated.
Voter turnout was 59.44, state news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha reported, citing the Election Commission on Friday.
The nation of 175 million people has more than 127 million registered voters.
-- BERNAMA
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