Dhaka, 14 Feb

Bangladesh's Election Commission has published a gazette of newly elected members of Parliament from the 13th general election, paving the way for their swearing-in, media reports said on Saturday.

The gazette was published for 297 out of the 300 parliamentary constituencies late on Friday, the BSS news agency reported.

The notification was signed by Akhtar Ahmed, secretary of the Election Commission Secretariat.

The next step is the swearing-in ceremony, which will officially seat them in Parliament, according to the bdnews24 news portal.

Parliamentary elections were held in Bangladesh on Thursday across 299 of the country’s 300 constituencies, while the results from two seats were withheld.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) bagged 209 out of 297 seats and is making a return to power after a gap of two decades.

The right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami, known to be close to Pakistan, secured 68 seats.

The Awami League party of deposed primeminister Sheikh Hasina was barred from contesting the elections, which recorded 59.44 per cent voter turnout.

The 13th Parliamentary elections assumed significance as they were held after a period of tumultuous political vacuum, instability and fragile security situation, including widespread attacks on minorities after the student-led protests brought down the 15-year rule of Hasina in August 2024.