Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has won a landslide victory in Bangladesh’s election.

Political Editor Nick Powell travelled to Bangladesh to observe the country’s 12th parliamentary vote and reflects on what it means for its people and its relations with the EU.

"Bangladesh is a vibrant society, with a dynamic business environment and with an enviably free and competitive media. Its people are well-educated and well-informed, politically engaged in the sense that everyone has an opinion on how the country is run, usually with a strong pride in the country’s progress since the war of liberation in 1971 and especially over the last 15 years.

Much commentary about the country’s twelfth parliamentary election has focused on the turnout of 42% of the electorate. Voter turnout has been very volatile in Bangladesh over the years, it’s been just half of what was achieved in 2024 but it’s also been double that.

I was part of a team of international observers that saw no sign of voter intimidation or violence, although there had been isolated cases of arson attacks on polling stations and public transport in the run-up to polling day. In that sense, it was a free, fair and safe election, whether at the notably quiet polling stations in the capital, Dhaka, or in villages where we saw long queues of men and women waiting patiently to vote.

Some voters might have felt that the election was unfair as they could not vote for the once-ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which had decided to boycott a third election in a row. Its leader is based in London since he fled justice in Bangladesh and it was trailing badly in the polls before quitting the latest contest.

That left a victory by the incumbent Awami League government looking inevitable, a factor that also pointed towards a low turnout. With all but two of the 300 parliamentary constituencies declared, the Awami League won 222 seats, with the only other significant group being the 62 independents. (An additional 50 seats reserved for women will be allocated later).

Speaking to international journalists and election observers after her victory, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said her government had wanted all political parties to nominate their candidates this time. She observed that “the BNP stayed away from the election because they were afraid of the result.”.

“We have been able to create an example that elections can be open, free and fair”, she continued. “Our people gave me this opportunity, voted for me time and again” She denied that she was a “great lady”, rather “with motherly affection, I look after my people”.

Asked if Bangladesh can be considered a vibrant democracy without a main opposition party in parliament, she retorted that democracy meant that it was up to the opposition to organise its own political party. Sheikh Hasina blamed the arson attacks on the BNP and asked if trying to kill people was democracy. “How do you define that they are a democratic party, they are a terrorist party”.

The Prime Minister also said she wants to continue her country’s good relationship with Europe, as part of her ambition to sustain Bangladesh’s rapid development. Her ambition is to completely eradicate extreme poverty, which now afflicts just over 5% of the population, and to see Bangladesh take its place as one of the economically fully developed nations of the world by 2041.

One area where it is already ahead of almost everywhere else is in the robust constitutional safeguards protecting the election process. An independent Election Commission has powers to direct the police, military and other relevant government departments for 90 days before a poll is held.

The Commission had a vast task, with 120 million voters and more than 42,000 voting centres. Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal warned that threats of violence could impact voter turnout and appealed to the festive spirit which had usually characterised elections in the past. Nevertheless, the Commission had mobilised the army for election week to ensure that there was no interference in the right to vote.

“We are hopeful that the election will be free, fair and credible”, he said, adding that Bangladesh was respectful of the views of the international community. Some Western powers have been reluctant to give an unqualified endorsement but Bangladesh’s close relationship with Europe in particular is set to continue to deepen.

Not only is the country an evermore important trade and development partner but it has also become a regional beacon of stability and democracy, with its unchanging foreign policy of ‘friendship to all, malice to none’. Enlightened self-interest alone would be enough for the EU to seize the opportunity of the next five years that the voters of Bangladesh have given to Sheikh Hasina and her government.

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