Polls open in first Bangladesh election since uprising
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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What is the significance of the first election in Bangladesh since the uprising?
I'm Alex Ritson, and in the early hours of Thursday, the 12th of February, these are our main stories. Voting is underway in Bangladesh in the first election since the uprising in 2024 that toppled long-serving Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. President Trump tells Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu that he'd prefer to do a deal on Iran's nuclear programme than take further military action. Meanwhile in Iran, the president apologises for government failings on the 47th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. Also in this podcast...
Birdwatchers are flocking to the Canadian city of Montreal after what's believed to be the first recorded sighting of a European robin in Canada. We start in Bangladesh, where voting is underway in what's perhaps the most important election to take place there for many years. This is the first national poll since the country's former premier, Sheikh Hasina, was deposed in 2024 after several months of violent unrest. Since then, Bangladesh has been run by a caretaker government. headed by the Nobel Prize winner Mohamed Younis. He says he'll step down after the vote. More than 50 political parties are hoping to win a share of the 350 parliamentary seats being contested. The party of Sheikh Hasina, the Awami League, has been banned from contesting the election.
So who are the main contenders? Our correspondent in Dhaka is Azadeh Moshiri.
There are several main parties that are contesting here. One of them is the Bangladesh Nationalist Party or the BNP. I'm actually at a polling booth in Dhaka where Tariq Rahman, the leader of the BNP, is expected to turn up and vote here, perhaps even say a few words. So There are a lot of BNP supporters around me with red and green caps, and there's also a lot of media as well as security forces, evidence that the interim government is trying to make sure that the day goes by smoothly. The BNP, having been in government before, they are an older, established party, as is Jamaat-e-Islami, an Islamist party that is also contesting the elections today. Both of these parties, while being older established parties, have faced politically motivated arrests in the past, have had a very difficult time during Sheikh Hasina's rule, with the BNP in fact boycotting the last elections because of that.
Right now there's a lot of excitement and a lot of optimism from the people at this particular polling booth.
Yeah, it is the first election since the ousting of Sheikh Hasina. Give us a sense of how important that is.
For many people we've spoken to in the past few weeks, they feel this is a day they never thought they'd see. These are people who say they either have never voted or haven't voted in nearly a decade. Even the ones who have been to polling booths in the last few years say it's the first time that they feel their vote will count.
But that feeling that they have... is very different to what other parts of the country feel. We've been to areas that are Awami League strongholds, where supporters of the party of the former government are based.
They do not feel that these are free and fair elections, certainly not inclusive ones, given that their party has been banned from even contesting.
And so the Awami League banned. What other constitutional reforms are being voted on?
That's a good point, because not only are people voting for a new government, there is also a referendum on the July national charter constitutional amendment that would, if voted yes, put through various reforms.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:58
2
What is the significance of the first election in Bangladesh since the uprising?
0:58–14:38
3
Who are the main political contenders in Bangladesh's election?
14:38–26:41
4
What constitutional reforms are being voted on in Bangladesh?
26:41–29:55
5
How is the US addressing the Iran nuclear deal negotiations?
29:55–31:26