Bangladeshi ladies depart after casting their votes exterior a polling station throughout nationwide parliamentary election in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on February 12, 2026
| Picture Credit score: AP
Bangladeshi voters have endorsed sweeping democratic reforms in a nationwide referendum, the Election Fee mentioned on Friday (February 13, 2026), a key pillar of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus’s post-uprising transition agenda.
The referendum passed off alongside parliamentary elections on Thursday (February 12) that marked the primary vote since a 2024 rebellion ended Sheikh Hasina’s iron-fisted 15-year rule.
Bangladesh election outcomes LIVE
Based on the fee, 60.2% of voters backed the reform bundle.
The prolonged doc, often called the “July Constitution” after the month when the rebellion that toppled Ms. Hasina started, proposes time period limits for prime ministers, the creation of an higher home of parliament, stronger presidential powers and higher judicial independence.
It additionally consists of elevated illustration of girls in parliament and the election of the deputy speaker and parliamentary committee chairs from the opposition.
Mr. Yunus, who took cost as interim chief after what he described as a “utterly damaged” political system, championed the reform blueprint as important to stopping a return to authoritarianism.
The referendum query famous that approval would make the constitution “binding on the events that win” the election, obliging them to endorse it.
Nevertheless, a number of events raised notes of dissent earlier than the vote, and the reforms will nonetheless require ratification by the brand new parliament.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Celebration (BNP) secured a landslide victory within the elections, profitable a majority of greater than two-thirds of the accessible seats.
Senior BNP chief Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir mentioned the get together will implement the elements of the constitution it agreed on.
“We’ll implement the elements of the July Consensus that we’ve got signed on a precedence foundation,” he advised reporters on Friday.
“We even have our 31-point agenda, which might be applied step by step.”
Ali Riaz, vice-chairman of the Consensus Fee that led rounds of marathon talks with events to agree on the constitution, welcomed the end result.
“By way of their ‘sure’ votes, the folks of Bangladesh have clearly expressed their want for reforms,” he advised AFP.
“The duty now lies with the political events to implement these reforms. We sincerely hope they may respect the folks’s mandate and uphold the constitution.”
Printed – February 13, 2026 03:51 pm IST