| Country: | Bangladesh |
| Type: | Parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | yes |
| Previous Election: | 2024 Bangladeshi general election |
| Previous Year: | 2024 |
| Election Date: | TBA |
| Seats For Election: | All 300 directly elected seats in the Jatiya Sangsad |
| Majority Seats: | 151 |
| Party1: | Awami League |
| Leader1: | Sheikh Hasina |
| Last Election1: | 224 seats |
| Leader2: | GM Quader |
| Party2: | Jatiya Party (Ershad) |
| Last Election2: | 11 seats |
| Seats Needed2: | 140 |
| Leader3: | Khaleda Zia |
| Party3: | Bangladesh Nationalist Party |
| Last Election3: | Boycotted |
| Seats Needed3: | 151 |
| Chief Adviser | |
| Before Party: | Independent |
Early general elections are expected to be held by the end of 2024 in Bangladesh to elect members of the 13th Jatiya Sangsad following the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the formation of an interim government with Muhammad Yunus as its Chief Advisor.
See main article: Non-cooperation movement (2024) and 2024 Bangladesh quota reform movement. The 12th Sangsad was dissolved by President Mohammed Shahabuddin following the resignation of Sheikh Hasina.[1] In June 2024, student protests erupted throughout the country, demanding the reform of quotas in government jobs. The protests were met with brutal crackdown by law-enforcement agencies and paramilitary forces, resulting in the deaths of many students. By August, the protests intensified into large-scale civil unrest against the government which eventually culminated in Hasina's resignation on 5 August.
Following negotiations between student leaders and the Armed Forces, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was appointed as Chief Adviser to head an interim government with a view to leading the country to new elections.[2]
The Awami League won the January 2024 general elections and formed the government.[3] There was record low turnout, and it was a controversial election. The United States Department of State, in a statement, said that the election was not free and fair[4] and the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office termed the election lacking the preconditions of democracy.[5] According to The Economist, through this election, Bangladesh effectively became a one-party state.[6]
The main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), demanded that the government hand over power to a neutral caretaker government before the January 2024 elections.[7] This was rejected by Hasina, who vowed that "Bangladesh will never allow an unelected government again".[8] Hasina's resistance to a caretaker government arose following the 2006–2008 crisis, during which a caretaker government assumed military control of the country and arrested a number of political leaders, including Hasina and Khaleda Zia. [9] Zia was sentenced to prison for five years in the on February 8, 2018, for her involvement in the Zia Orphanage corruption case.[10] The sentence was then modified to 10 years.[11] Zia’s successor as chair of the party, her son Tarique Rahman, was also found guilty of criminal conspiracy and multiple counts of murder for a grenade attack in 2004 that injured Hasina and killed 24 people.[12] He was sentenced to life in prison. As such, he was barred from running for office.[13] Zia was released by Shahabuddin following Hasina's resignation.[14]
The 350 members of the Jatiya Sangsad consist of 300 directly elected seats using first-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies, and an additional 50 seats reserved for women. The reserved seats are elected proportionally by the elected members. Each parliament sits for a five-year term.[15]