Bangladesh counts vote after peaceful elections     

DHAKA — Votes are being counted in Bangladesh after Thursday’s general elections, the first held in the country since 2024 when the government of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted in a popular uprising.The election pits the center-right Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) against a coalition led by the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami, which has joined forces with a party born out of the student uprising after Hasina’s Awami League was barred from contesting.Voter turnout was recorded at 47.9% across 36,000 polling stations ahead of closing time, said Akhtar Ahmed, senior secretary of the Bangladesh Election Commission.Final voter turnout figures will come after all election centers submit their papers.The day of the election was largely peaceful, with reports of one death and two small Molotov cocktail attacks reported in Chauddagram, eastern Bangladesh and another at a polling station in Gopalganj Sadar.The death was of a man in Bhairab, Kishoreganj, according to daily Prothom Alo.A few injuries were also reported.More than 127.6 million people were eligible to vote in the election as well as a referendum on constitutional reforms.Amid heavy security with some one million security personnel deployed, voting began at 7.30 am (0130GMT) and closed nine hours later at 4.30 pm (1030GMT).Long queues of people were seen outside polling stations.Results are likely to trickle in by late Thursday local time as people elect 300 members of parliament across the nation. Final results are expected on Friday.A total of 51 political parties and 2,034 candidates are competing for parliamentary seats, including 275 independent contenders.In addition to the 300 general seats where candidates are elected directly by the public, parliament includes 50 reserved seats for women, bringing the total size of the house to 350 members.Leaders of all the major political parties, including Tarique Rahman of the BNP and Shafiqur Rahman of Jamaat-e-Islami, voted early Thursday in the capital Dhaka.Interim leader Muhammad Yunus also cast his ballot, telling reporters: “Today is a day of joy for all of Bangladesh—a day of liberation. The end of our nightmare, the beginning of new dreams.”Some 394 international observers and about 197 foreign journalists are covering the election, according to the Bangladesh Election Commission.Voters were also casting their ballots in a referendum on constitutional change proposed by the interim government to fix what it has called a completely broken political system. — Agencies