Sheikh Hasina secured a historic victory in Bangladesh’s National Elections on January 8, 2024, winning for a record fourth consecutive term and poised to become Prime Minister for a fifth term, setting another milestone. The Awami League, led by Sheikh Hasina, emerged victorious in the parliamentary elections held on January 7, 2024, despite a boycott by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and other opposition groups.
The final results of the 2024 elections revealed that the ruling Awami League secured 223 out of the total 298 seats in the Bangladesh Parliament. Jatiya Party (Ershad) won 11 seats, with the remaining seats distributed among smaller parties.
This election triumph solidifies Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s position as the world’s longest-serving female head of government. The opposition had boycotted the elections, alleging rigging and manipulation, and called for Sheikh Hasina to step down for fair elections. However, Sheikh Hasina rejected these demands. After the final results were announced, she claimed that all necessary measures were taken to ensure free, fair, and impartial elections in Bangladesh.
Speaking to local and foreign journalists and election observers, Sheikh Hasina emphasized that Bangladesh had set an example by conducting the general election, stating, “We have set a precedent that the election can be free, fair, and neutral.”
Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal reported a voter turnout of 40% in the 2024 elections, with only 120 million out of the total 170 million registered voters casting their votes. This marks the second-lowest voter turnout since the reinstatement of democracy in 1991.
Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of Bangladesh’s founding father and first president, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, initially became Prime Minister in the 1996 and 2001 general elections. Subsequently, she won the 2009 elections and has held the position of Prime Minister since then.
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