Islamabad: Pakistan’s top political leadership Friday congratulated the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its leader, Tarique Rahman, on securing a landslide majority in the parliamentary elections.
BNP claimed victory in the crucial national election held after the 2024 youth-led uprising that resulted in the fall of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government.
Bangladesh’s Election Commission (EC) is yet to make a formal announcement.
According to multiple media reports, EC is expected to declare BNP the winner in the general elections with tallies in predawn hours on Friday, suggesting it got majority seats in parliament.
President Asif Ali Zardari in a statement congratulated the people of Bangladesh on the successful conduct of the polls across 299 seats with the participation of over 127 million registered voters, reported Radio Pakistan.
Reaffirming Islamabad’s support for the sovereignty and democratic aspirations of Bangladesh, he said Pakistan “looks forward to working with the new government to strengthen cooperation in trade, defence, cultural exchanges and regional forums”.
He expressed the hope that the new political environment in Dhaka would contribute to more balanced, independent and mutually respectful engagement across the region, offering his best wishes for the continued stability, progress and prosperity of Bangladesh.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also extended felicitations to Rahman on leading the BNP to a “resounding victory” in the parliamentary elections in Bangladesh.
“I extend my warmest felicitations to Mr. Tarique Rahman on leading the BNP to a resounding victory in the Parliamentary elections in Bangladesh. I also congratulate the people of Bangladesh on the successful conduct of the elections,” he wrote in a post on X.
Sharif said he looks forward to working closely with the new Bangladesh leadership to further strengthen “our historic, brotherly multifaceted bilateral relations and advance our shared goals of peace, stability, and development in South Asia and beyond”.
The election was seen as a direct contest between the BNP and its former ally, Jamaat-e-Islami, in the absence of ousted premier Hasina’s now-banned Awami League.
The BNP was in power last time between 2001 and 2006 when Jamaat was its crucial partner, with two of its leaders serving as ministers.
The BNP had earlier announced that if it wins the election, then its chairman and former premier Khaleda Zia’s son, Rahman, would be the next prime minister of Bangladesh.
If the party wins, Rahman will be Bangladesh’s first male prime minister in 35 years.
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