![]() | Parts of this article (those related to vote counts) need to be updated. (January 2024) |
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300 of the 350 seats in the Jatiya Sangsad 151 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Registered | 119,691,633 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Turnout | 41.8%[1] (![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() Results by constituency | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Election schedule[2][3][4] | |
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15 November 2023 | Declaration of the schedule |
30 November 2023 | Application deadline for candidates |
1–4 December 2023 | Scrutiny |
17 December 2023 | Last day of candidacy withdrawal |
18 December 2023 | Symbol allocation |
18 December 2023 | Start of campaign period |
5 January 2024 | End of campaign period |
7 January 2024 | Election day |
14 March 2024 | Election of reserved seats |
General elections were held in Bangladesh on 7 January 2024 in accordance with the current constitutional requirement, stating that elections must take place within the 90-day period before the expiration of the current term of the Jatiya Sangsad on 29 January 2024. The Awami League, led by incumbent Sheikh Hasina, won the election for the fourth consecutive time with less than 40% of the eligible voters voting according to an Election Commission, which is run by the ruling political party.[5][2][6][7] The party won 224 seats while independent candidates, most of whom were Awami League members propped up as dummy candidates to give a semblance of competition, won 62 seats.[8][9][10]
In the lead-up to the election, the incumbent government led by Sheikh Hasina cracked down on opposition parties and silenced critics of the government.[11][12][13] Hasina's prime ministership has been described as authoritarian since being re-elected in 2008,[14][15][16][17] and in 2011 removed the requirement that a temporary independent caretaker government be formed to hold elections. The main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, boycotted the elections (as they did in 2014) as they assumed that the election commission under the incumbent government were unable to organise a free and fair election.[13]
A protest over the election turnout emerged as the Chief Election Commissioner initially claimed, based on the data at hand, that turnout was 28%, but later retracted that statement to claim turnout was around 40%.[9][7]
The United States Department of State, in a statement, said that the election was not free and fair[18] and the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office termed the election lacking the preconditions of democracy.[19] According to The Economist, through this election, Bangladesh effectively became a one-party state.[20]
Fresh elections are expected to be called by November 2024, due to the resignation of PM Sheikh Hasina and the dissolution of the Jatiya Sangsad amidst popular student protests in the country in August.