Bangladeshis will vote in their country’s 13th general election on February 12. This is a significant election; it is the first since the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina government in student-led protests in August 2024. And although Hasina’s Awami League (AL) will not be contesting the election, its supporters are likely to play a major role in determining the winner.

With less than a month to go before the vote, opinion surveys are predicting victory for the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). While some point to a landslide victory for the party – one survey indicated that 70 percent of respondents planned to vote for the BNP, with the Jamaat-e-Islami far behind at 19 percent – others suggest a close contest, with the BNP just a few percentage points ahead.

© The Diplomat