Home
+
Published : 11 Dec 2025, 06:19 PM
Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin has set Thursday, Feb 12 , as polling day for both the general election and a referendum on implementing the July Charter.
Under the timetable he announced in a televised address on Thursday evening, nomination papers for parliament may be filed between Dec 12 and 29, will be scrutinised from Dec 30 to Jan 4, and can be withdrawn until Jan 20, with voters going to the polls three weeks later.
Election symbols will be allocated on Jan 21, after withdrawals. This provides 18 days for filing nominations and 20 days for campaigning.
Campaigning will run from Jan 22 and must cease 48 hours before polls open, meaning the blackout begins at 7:30am on Feb 10.
Voting in all 300 constituencies will take place from 7:30am to 4:30pm on Feb 12 – an hour longer than usual – using transparent ballot boxes and paper ballots.
Each voter will cast two votes: a black-and-white parliamentary ballot listing candidates and their symbols, and a coloured referendum ballot asking whether they support the July Charter reforms, with “Yes” and “No” boxes marked by stamp and placed in separate boxes.
The election comes barely two years after the last parliamentary polls on Jan 7, 2024, which delivered Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League a fourth consecutive term before a student-led quota protest swelled into a one-point movement to unseat her.
The July Uprising ended the party’s 15-year rule on Aug 5, 2024 and sent Hasina into exile in India.
An interim administration headed by Muhammad Yunus took office on Aug 8, later installing a new Election Commission under Nasir and edging towards the current timetable after months of BNP pressure, shifting deadlines and debate over whether the July Charter should be put to a stand-alone or parallel referendum.
A nationwide mock vote on Nov 29 helped shape the final design, including longer hours and extra booths for the twin contests.
ROAD TO THE 13TH PARLIAMENT
The Awami League, led by Sheikh Hasina, won the last parliamentary election on Jan 7, 2024, forming a government for a fourth straight term.
But the nationwide student movement demanding reform of the government job quota system escalated into a one-point demand to topple the government in July, reshaping the political order. The Uprising ended the Awami League’s 15-year rule on Aug 5, 2024, with Hasina fleeing to India.
Three days later, on Aug 8, an interim government led by Muhammad Yunus assumed office. A new Election Commission under Nasir took charge in November.
Chief Advisor Yunus declared that his administration had three priorities: justice for the July killings, restructuring the state, and conducting an election. Yet the election date remained unclear, drawing pressure from the BNP and allied parties, who demanded polls by December 2025.
On Jun 6, Yunus said the election would be held in the first half of April 2026.
But on Jun 13, during a meeting in London between BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman and the chief advisor, both sides shifted position. A joint declaration said the vote would be held in the first half of February.
The EC then advanced preparations, drafting a roadmap. Meanwhile, Sheikh Hasina’s trial continued at the International Crimes Tribunal, and political parties finalised reform proposals, signing the July Charter under the National Consensus Commission.
The question of how to legally implement the Charter introduced the option of a referendum. Parties debated whether it should be held before or alongside the national poll.
On Nov 13, in another address to the nation, Yunus confirmed that the referendum on implementing the July Charter and the parliamentary election would be held on the same day in February.
In line with this directive, the Election Commission completed preparations for both events. A mock voting exercise on Nov 29 informed its decision to extend polling time and increase the number of booths.
