Bangladesh's first post-uprising election is a test for democratic norms and minority rights

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladeshis will cast ballots on Thursday in a crucial national election, the first since a mass uprising ended the 15-year rule of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Public expectation is running high that the vote could help reset democratic norms after more than a decade of disputed elections and shrinking political space.

The transition is being overseen by an interim administration led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, which has pledged a fair vote.

Here’s what to know about the polls in Bangladesh.

The election of a new Parliament will involve more than 127 million eligible voters in the nation of some 170 million people, with 1,981 candidates contesting parliamentary seats nationwide. The Yunus-led administration has stated that it is committed to holding elections that are free, fair and peaceful. To help ensure this, around 500 foreign observers will be present, including from the European Union and the Commonwealth, to which Bangladesh belongs.

The vote also introduces a significant procedural change. Bangladeshi citizens living abroad will be able to participate through a postal voting system for the first time. The move is intended to broaden electoral participation by including the country’s large expatriate population.

Bangladesh’s national legislature comprises 350 lawmakers. Of these, 300 are elected directly from single-member constituencies, while an additional 50 seats are reserved for women. Elections are conducted under a first-past-the-post system, and each Parliament serves a five-year term.

The election will also include a referendum for political reforms that include prime ministerial term limits, stronger checks on executive power and other safeguards preventing parliamentary power consolidation.

Whether the process delivers genuine institutional reform or continues to support existing power structures will shape Bangladesh’s domestic stability, which has been marked by periods of military rule and weak democratic structures since its independence from Pakistan in 1971.

“The future of Bangladesh is in the hands of its citizens and elected leaders to ensure the country’s stability as a rights-respecting democracy,” said Catherine Cooper, staff attorney at the Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center.

She said it is critical that the newly-elected government “prioritize and protect civic space, allowing civil society, the press, political opposition, and all citizens to speak without fear of repression.”

The election results will also serve as an important test of whether popular protest movements by young people can translate into durable democratic change. Nearly 5 million people are new voters and will be casting their ballots for the first time.

Bangladesh’s political landscape has for decades revolved around two rival dynasties. On one side is the Awami League, headed by Hasina, the daughter of the country’s founding president. Opposing it is the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, now led by Tarique Rahman, son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia . who died in December.

With the Awami League banned, the BNP has emerged as the front-runner, positioning Rahman as the leading candidate.

Rahman returned to Bangladesh in December after 17 years in self exile and has promised to rebuild democratic institutions, restore the rule of law and revive the economy.

Challenging the BNP is a broad 11-party coalition spearheaded by the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami, which is seeking to expand its influence in national politics. Jamaat-e-Islami was banned under Hasina but has gained influence since her ouster.

The alliance also includes the newly formed National Citizen Party, created by leaders of the 2024 uprising.

The election is going to be the first since the ouster of Hasina, who now lives in exile in India. She was sentenced to death in absentia last year by a special tribunal under the Yunus-led administration. The charges against her relate to crimes against humanity over the deaths of hundreds of people during the 2024 uprising.

Hasina has denounced the trial, terming the court as a “kangaroo court.” In an interview with The Associated Press from her exile in India, she denounced the decision to exclude her party from taking part in the election.

During Hasina’s rule, elections were widely criticized by opposition parties and rights groups as lacking credibility.

An increasingly urgent concern in Bangladesh is the rising prominence of hard-line groups. Their influence has raised alarms about the rights and safety of women and religious minorities. Minority communities, particularly Hindus, report increased intimidation and incidents of violence, deepening fears about their place in the Muslim-majority nation.

There are growing concerns that the Islamist coalition could exploit these tensions to reassert political influence.

Bangladesh is over 90% Muslim, while around 8% are Hindu.

Jamaat-e-Islami leader Shafiqur Rahman arrives to attend the last day of an election rally for Bangladesh Khilafat Majlis candidate Mamunul Haque, organized by the eleven party alliance in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

A Hindu prays as he opens his shop at a market in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Tarique Rahman, the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), waves to the crowd during an election rally in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Protesters try to demolish a statue of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of Bangladesh's leader Sheikh Hasina, after she resigned as Prime Minister, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajib Dhar, File)

*Head of the Bangladesh's interim government and Nobel laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus, center, displays a political charter called 'July National Charter' at an event outside Bangladesh's national parliament complex in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Friday, Oct. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu, File)

Protesters celebrate outside the Bangladesh Parliament after getting the news of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's resignation, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Aug. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Abid Hasan, File)

Jamaat-e-Islami leader Shafiqur Rahman, second right in front, greets to the supporters as he arrives to attend the last day of an election rally for Bangladesh Khilafat Majlis candidate Mamunul Haque, organized by the eleven party alliance in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Jamaat-e-Islami leader Shafiqur Rahman and other leaders attend the last day of an election rally for Bangladesh Khilafat Majlis candidate Mamunul Haque, organized by the eleven party alliance in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Jamaat-e-Islami leader Shafiqur Rahman, centre, and other leaders hold their election symbol during the last day of an election rally for Bangladesh Khilafat Majlis candidate Mamunul Haque, organized by the eleven party alliance in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Commuters travel on rickshaws in a market on the eve of national election in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A crack in a damaged chemical tank in Southern California has eliminated the risk of a catastrophic explosion but it's still not safe enough for the remaining 16,000 residents living closest to the aerospace plant to go home, officials said Tuesday.

Crews were spraying water to keep cooling the tank that overheated last week, prompting the evacuation of 50,000 people in the Orange County city of Garden Grove. Most returned home after a crack formed over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, relieving pressure inside.

The evacuation zone remained the same on Tuesday morning, said Orange County Fire Capt. Brian Yau.

Crews worked overnight to ensure two other nearby tanks were neutralized and would not be affected by the compromised tank, he said, adding that material from one of these two tanks was transferred to another that has a neutralizing agent.

“They are moving material over to ensure that all threats have been eliminated,” Yau said.

Those threats include the risk of a very small explosion and potential spill, officials said.

Exposure to methyl methacrylate — a highly flammable chemical used to make plastics — can cause serious respiratory problems, neurological problems and irritation to the skin, eyes and throat, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency. The tank at the GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems plant contains 6,000 to 7,000 gallons (22,700 to 26,500 liters) of the chemical.

The interior cooled to 93 degrees F (33.9 degrees C), the county's fire division chief Craig Covey said Monday, down from 100 degrees (37.7 degrees C) a day earlier. The company said its technical specialists and the county fire authority have removed insulation from the tank to help cool it.

Health officials sought to reassure people who are returning to homes near the plant.

“There was no contamination. There were no fumes,” Orange County Health Director Regina Chinsio-Kwong said at Monday's news conference. “There was not a leak. So it should be, you should feel comfortable going home even if you’re across the street from that new zone line.”

The South Coast Air Quality Management District will monitor the air for several months and the EPA will be checking sewer and storm drains for spills, Orange County Supervisor Janet Nguyen said.

Garden Grove Unified School District said last week it was shutting a dozen schools through what was supposed to be the last day of the school year on Wednesday but later said only three would remain closed Tuesday. It was unclear if they would reopen before the school year ends this week.

At a parking lot at a large park in Fountain Valley, just southwest of Garden Grove, people sought refuge in an ad hoc shelter there or pitched tents outside. Other people gathered in the park to enjoy Memorial Day.

Kim Yen, a retiree who was still evacuated from her home two blocks from the plant, welcomed news that the worst was not expected.

“I am happy and many of us are happy,” she said Monday.

She said she's ready to go back but wants to be sure it’s safe first. She's also been worrying about the emergency workers, who she called “our heroes.”

As the tank heated up, the chemical converted from liquid to gas, ramping up the pressure and explosion risk, said Andrew Whelton, a Purdue University engineering professor who has studied environmental contamination. Some of the methyl methacrylate may already have hardened into a stable plastic similar to plexiglass, reducing the danger, he said.

The tank could eventually cool enough for crews to safely stabilize and drain the remaining material without triggering a spark or ignition, Whelton said.

However, he said there is still a risk of an explosion while the chemical remains hot and reactive. Temperatures need to fall closer to 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit (15.6 to 21.1 degrees C) before conditions are considered significantly safer, he said.

GKN Aerospace Transparency Systems makes cockpit windows, canopies and windshields for military and commercial aircraft. It employs about 16,000 people across 32 manufacturing sites in 12 countries, according to the company website.

“We apologize for the ongoing disruption this incident is causing and our priority remains its safe resolution, so that residents can return to their homes as quickly as possible,” the company said.

GKN Aerospace agreed in 2025 to pay state regulators more than $900,000 to settle violations involving recordkeeping, permitting issues and nitrogen oxide emissions, according to a report on the South Coast Air Quality Management District website.

——

This story has been corrected to attribute a quote to TJ McGovern, interim fire chief of the Orange County Fire Authority, not to division chief Craig Covey.

Willingham reported from Boston. Contributing were Associated Press journalists Jamie Stengle in Dallas; Ethan Swope in Garden Grove, California; and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles.

Two evacuees sit in their pickup truck at a gas station within the evacuation zone in Stanton, Calif., Monday, May 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

An aerial view shows a police checkpoint enforcing a road closure at the evacuation zone boundary in Anaheim, Calif., Monday, May 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Jan De Jonge and fiancé Sher Stuckman set up a tent with their belonging and pet outside the Elks Lodge in Garden Grove, Calif., on Monday, May 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

An evacuation map is displayed at the incident command post at the Los Alamitos Race Course in Cypress, Calif., on Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

Water is sprayed on a damaged tank at GKN Aerospace in Garden Grove, Calif., on Sunday, May 24, 2026, after the tank containing a chemical used to make plastic parts overheated Thursday. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

People walk outside Freedom Hall, an evacuation center in Fountain Valley, Calif., on Monday, May 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

An American Red Cross volunteer walks outside Freedom Hall, an evacuation center in Fountain Valley, Calif.,on Monday, May 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

People tend to their pets outside Freedom Hall, an evacuation center in Fountain Valley, Calif., on Monday, May 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)