SAV Q&A with Muhib Rahman: Unpacking the Bangladesh Elections
On February 12, Bangladesh held elections for the first time since the ouster of longtime leader Sheikh Hasina in August 2024. Voters delivered a supermajority in parliament to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and approved a referendum on the proposed…
The Other Half of Democracy: Governing and Opposing in Bangladesh’s Democratic Transition
Bangladesh has lived through fifteen years of elections in which genuine political competition was progressively dismantled. Under Sheikh Hasina’s rule from 2009 to 2024, the country came to resemble what comparative political scientists describe as a competitive authoritarian regime: formal…
Bangladesh Is Voting, but Stability Is Not on the Ballot
Bangladesh is at a political crossroads. On February 12, the South Asian country is scheduled to hold a national election alongside a referendum on institutional reforms proposed in the July Charter, a reform package aimed at establishing stronger checks and…
Bangladesh in 2024: Protests, Political Shifts, and a New Path Ahead
On August 5 of this year, Bangladesh’s political landscape underwent a seismic shift as student protests that initially started as a call for quota reforms erupted into a nationwide movement against corruption, authoritarianism, and economic mismanagement. This eventually led to…
Amidst a Political Imbroglio: What’s Next for Bangladesh’s Nuclear Energy Dreams?
The current situation in Bangladesh, marked by the fallout from months-long student protests and the subsequent resignation of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has plunged the country into uncertainty. Despite an interim government now taking charge and attempting to navigate…
Bangladesh in 2023: A Year of Turbulence with Deeper Uncertainty Ahead
Bangladesh’s politics were extremely volatile throughout 2023 in anticipation of the general election scheduled for January 7, 2024. One of the defining features of Bangladesh’s domestic politics this year were the increasing number of opposition rallies led by the Bangladesh…