Bangladesh: For the first time the Islamist party has a real chance
Abdur Razzak, a 45‑year‑old banker from Faridpur, senses a political opening he has never felt before. As he campaigns for Jamaat‑e‑Islami’s “scales” symbol, he says voters appear unusually unified behind the party ahead of Bangladesh’s February 12 election — the first since the 2024 student‑led uprising that toppled Sheikh Hasina.
With Hasina’s Awami League banned by the interim government of Muhammad Yunus, the race has narrowed to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and a Jamaat‑led alliance formed with the National Citizen Party and other Islamist groups.
Recent polls show Jamaat closing the gap with the BNP, marking a dramatic reversal for a party long targeted under Hasina’s rule, when its leaders were executed, jailed, or disappeared.
