Ballot Lesson For Nepal

Elections make a fundamental contribution to democratic governance. As democratic governance is conducted through people's representatives, elections enable voters to select leaders and hold them accountable for their duties. To reinstate the democratic government after the political turmoil of the 2024 uprising, Bangladesh has held the first national election, in which the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has claimed victory.

The unofficial results of the election, as reported by the news agencies quoting election officials, showed the BNP won 209 seats, crossing the 151-seat threshold required for a majority in the parliament of 350 seats. The BNP is headed by 60-year-old Tarique Rahman, its prime ministerial candidate, who returned to Bangladesh in December after 17 years in self-exile in London. He is the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who died in December, 2025. 

BNP leader called on his supporters to hold special prayers and not to hold any celebratory rallies or processions. The party is expected to form a government by Sunday. An interim government led by Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus has been in office since Sheikh Hasina fled to India in 2024 after widespread protests.

The election contest was largely a two-way race between the BNP and an 11-party alliance led by the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami, a conservative religious party whose growing influence has fueled concern, particularly among women and minority communities. Despite falling short of a majority, the alliance made a notable impact, securing at least 77 seats.  

Interestingly, the National Citizen Party (NCP), led by youth activists instrumental in toppling Hasina and part of a Jamaat-led alliance, won just six of the 30 seats that it contested. Shafiqur Rahman, who heads Jamaat-e-Islami, secured a seat in Dhaka and is poised to become the opposition leader in Parliament. But his party voiced objections to the handling of the vote count.

The Election Commission informed that the voter turnout in Thursday’s election stood at 59.44 per cent. More than 127 million voters were eligible. Through the election, a majority of voters backed a proposal for constitutional reforms that was held alongside the election. The proposal included prime ministerial term limits and stronger checks on executive power. The changes include two-term limits for prime ministers and stronger judicial independence and women’s representation, while providing for neutral interim governments during election periods and setting up a second house of the 300-seat parliament.

Major regional and global powers have congratulated BNP for its victory, validating the election. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and the US ambassador to Bangladesh, Brent T Christensen, were among the first to congratulate Rahman on his party’s victory. China’s embassy in Dhaka also congratulated the BNP over its election showing.

The outcome of Bangladesh’s election has sent a powerful message across South Asia that political change through the ballot is possible when institutions, leadership, and public trust move together. The victory claim by the BNP after years of political confrontation and disputed elections reflects both hope for democratic renewal and deep anxieties about whether old political cultures can truly reform themselves.

For Nepal, heading into the March 5 polls, the Bangladeshi experience offers timely lessons. Nepal, like Bangladesh, has lived with political turbulence, fragile coalitions, public frustration with corruption, and repeated questions about whether elections genuinely translate into better governance. 

The Bangladeshi people turned protest into political change; whether that change transforms governance remains to be seen. Nepal’s polls offer another chance to reaffirm that democratic participation must lead to democratic outcomes in the form of cleaner politics, stronger institutions, and a state that serves its citizens rather than entrenched interests.