Bangladesh's ruling party gains clear majority of parliamentary seats

Bangladesh's ruling Awami League (AL) party of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has gained more than 70 percent of parliamentary seats in the country's general elections, with the results of around 290 seats initially declared by Election Commission (EC) officials Sunday night, reported Xinhua.

Bangladesh held general elections on Sunday to elect 299 members of parliament. Voting at a constituency has been postponed due to the death of a candidate.

Over 260 candidates from the ruling AL party joined the national elections. The voting began at 8:00 a.m. local time and concluded at 4:00 p.m. local time in over 42,000 voting centers nationwide.

Foreign election observers have also roamed around different polling centers openly since Sunday morning. After visiting polling centers, some of the foreign observers described the polls as free, fair, peaceful, successful and legitimate.

In Bangladesh, a party can form a government if it manages to clinch 151 seats of parliament in total.

The ruling AL party rose to power with a landslide election victory in 2009 and won its second term in 2014 and the third term in 2018.

There are nearly 120 million registered voters in the South Asian country. The EC said earlier that 27 percent of the votes were cast in the first seven hours from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. local time on Sunday.

AL President and Prime Minister Hasina cast her vote at the Dhaka City College polling center at around 8:03 a.m. local time, according to local media reports.

To facilitate the voting process, a public holiday has been declared across the country.

Voter turnout in Bangladesh's 12th parliament polls on Sunday reached approximately 40 percent of the total eligible voters, Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal told reporters.

Speaking at a press conference, he said that the voter turnout rate would likely further increase after final counts.

The elections were held in a calm and democratic atmosphere, with only a few irregularities and incidents of violence registered, he added.

According to the official, the results will be announced at or before midnight.

Around 120 million citizens had the right to vote at over 42,000 polling stations across the country. Around 2,000 candidates are contesting for 299 out of the 300 directly-elected parliamentary constituencies. Election at a constituency was postponed last week due to the death of a candidate.

In Bangladesh, a party can only form the government if it manages to clinch 151 seats. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling Awami League party, which rose to power with a landslide election victory in 2009 and won its second term in 2014 and third term in 2018, now eyes a straight fourth five-year term in the country.