13th national polls, referendum set for 12 Feb

Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin on Thursday (December 11) announced the schedule for Bangladesh’s 13^th parliamentary election through Bangladesh Television and Bangladesh Betar.

He stated that the general election for 300 parliamentary seats, along with a referendum on the July 2025 National Charter Constitutional Reform Implementation Order, will take place on Thursday, February 12, 2026. The deadline for submitting nomination papers is December 29, 2025, with the scrutiny of nominations scheduled from December 30 to January 4, 2026.

The last date to file appeals against Returning Officers’ decisions with the Election Commission is January 11, and the appeals will be reviewed between January 12 and January 18. Candidates can withdraw their nominations until January 20, while the final list of candidates and allocation of symbols will be announced by the Returning Officer on January 21. Election campaigns will run from January 22 until 7:30 am on Tuesday, February 10, 2026, 48 hours before voting begins.

Earlier, on December 9, the CEC indicated that the election schedule could be unveiled within the week, following a meeting with Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed. Before the announcement, the two held a private discussion on various election-related matters for about an hour. In addition, the Election Commission met the President at 12:30 pm on Wednesday, after which the schedule announcement speech was recorded at 4 pm.

Election Commissioner Md. Anwarul Islam Sarkar noted that all preparations, including the format of constituencies, notification of returning and assistant returning officers, and about 20 circulars on different electoral matters, are ready. He added that arrangements for mobile courts, appointment of magistrates, formation of electoral inquiry committees, and establishment of monitoring and law-and-order cells have also been completed.

Election Commissioner Abdur Rahman Masud emphasized that maintaining law and order before the announcement of the schedule is not the Commission’s responsibility. “Our official duty to ensure a level playing field for all candidates begins only after the schedule is published,” he said. He also clarified that postal ballots will not carry symbols of any banned or suspended political party. After the announcement, the EC will focus on securing cooperation from all stakeholders, including political parties.

Since independence, Bangladesh has held 12 parliamentary elections. The Awami League has formed the government six times, the BNP four times, and the Jatiya Party twice. The Awami League won the 1^st, 7^th, 9^th, 10^th, 11^th, and 12^th elections; the BNP secured the 2^nd, 5^th, 6^th, and 8^th; while the Jatiya Party won the 3^rd and 4^th.

Although parliamentary terms are five years, the 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th, 6^th, and 12^th parliaments could not complete their terms due to political instability, while the 5^th, 7^th, 8^th, 9^th, 10^th, and 11^th parliaments completed their full terms.