Jamaat’s Rahman said his party “will serve as a vigilant, principled, and peaceful opposition, holding the government to account”.
Election Commissioner Md Anwarul Islam Sarker told AFP that the vote had been a success.
“It was by far the best election,” he said, noting that voting was cancelled at only one of the more than 42,000 polling centres.
“People had doubts about whether a successful election could be held under these circumstances, but we have done it,” he said on Saturday. “If anyone still has any issues, they can go to court.”
The Election Commission said turnout was 59 per cent across 299 constituencies out of 300 in which voting took place.
Only seven women were elected, although a further 50 seats in parliament reserved for women will be named from party lists.
Shafiqur Rahman stressed the significant gains his Islamist party had made compared with past elections, after years of being crushed under Hasina.
“With 77 seats, we have nearly quadrupled our parliamentary presence and become one of the strongest opposition blocs in modern Bangladeshi politics,” he said. That is not a setback. That is a foundation.”
Voters on Thursday also endorsed proposals in a referendum for a sweeping democratic reform charter backed by Yunus, to overhaul what he called a “completely broken” system of government and to prevent a return to one-party rule.
Those include prime ministerial term limits, a new upper house of parliament, stronger presidential powers and greater judicial independence.
Crisis Group analyst Thomas Kean warned that the incoming government now faced “daunting challenges”, including “boosting the economy, ensuring security and continuing the reform process”.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/bangladesh-islamist-party-concedes-defeat-in-election-tarique-rahman-5931376
