DHAKA, Bangladesh

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) said it would form a new government by Sunday, after winning the first elections since the July 2024 uprising that ousted the government of longtime rival Awami League.

"The government will be formed by Feb. 15. The BNP will go to parliament with all parties," the party’s Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told reporters on Friday while visiting his constituency in the north-western Thakurgaon district.

BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman is likely the party's prime ministerial candidate. He became the party head after the death of his mother and Bangladesh’s first female prime minister, Khaleda Zia, in December.

“It will be the BNP’s government. And BNP will implement its election promises and manifesto, as well as the issues that BNP signed in the July Charter on reforms will be implemented step by step,” he added.

Alongside the general election, the country also voted for a referendum on “July Charter,” adopted last October, for constitutional reforms, which received an overwhelming backing from the people.

The charter has more than 80 proposals aimed at overhauling governance, including term limits for the prime minister, expanded presidential powers, protecting judicial independence, increasing women’s representation, and broader fundamental rights.

According to the Constitution, a party needs 151 seats in the 300-seat parliament to form a government. The BNP and its allies secured 212 seats in Thursday's vote. Its main competitor, the bloc led by Jamaat-e-Islami, won 77 seats.

While elections on three seats were postponed, eight other seats were bagged by independents and smaller parties.

More than 127.6 million people were eligible to cast ballots, and the country recorded a voter turnout of 59.44%, up from 41.8% in the January 2024 elections. Those polls were boycotted by the BNP-Jamaat opposition under ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government.

Extradition of ousted premier

Separately, BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed told reporters in Dhaka that the incoming government will formally request India to extradite fugitive Hasina, who is facing death penalty at home for ordering a crackdown on protests that killed at least 1,400 people, according to the UN.

"We will demand her (Hasina) extradition as per the law. This is a matter for the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry and the Indian External Affairs Ministry. We will demand from the Indian government that she be sent back to face trial," he said.

In November, a court in Bangladesh sentenced Hasina to death, in absentia, over crimes against humanity charges committed during the July 2024 uprising that ousted her government.

The interim government under Muhammad Yunus also requested Hasina's extradition multiple times.