In the elections held since the restoration of parliamentary democracy in the country in 1991, Islamic parties have won the highest number of seats in this year’s poll.
Alongside seats, their share of the vote has also increased. Against this backdrop, discussions have begun in various quarters over whether Islamic forces are on the rise in the country’s electoral politics.
These Islamic parties entered the electoral contest as part of an alliance led by the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami.
According to data from the Election Commission (EC), 11 Islamic parties took part in this election. Altogether they fielded 607 candidates. Among them, Islami Andolan Bangladesh and Jamaat-e-Islami nominated the highest number of candidates. In total, more than 2,000 candidates contested in 299 constituencies in this election.
Analysis of the results of the 13th National Parliament election shows that Islamic parties collectively secured 72 seats. Of these, Jamaat-e-Islami alone won 68 seats. The party fielded its own candidates in 224 constituencies. Two electoral allies of Jamaat — Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis and Khelafat Majlis — won two seats and one seat respectively.
For the first time, the party led by the Charmonai Pir, Islami Andolan Bangladesh, won a seat. It had fielded candidates in the highest number of constituencies among Islamic parties, 258. Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh contested five seats in alliance with the BNP but failed to win any.
Since 1991, Islamic parties have never won so many seats. They had secured 19 seats each in 1991 and 2001. However, in no election after 1991 had all Islamic parties combined received more than 15 per cent of the vote.
The Election Commission yesterday, Sunday, published party-wise vote shares. According to that data, the landslide-winning BNP received 49.97 per cent of the vote, Jamaat-e-Islami 31.76 per cent, and Islamic parties collectively more than 38 per cent.
Islamic parties secured their lowest number of seats in the 1996 and 2008 elections. During the Awami League’s tenure, the Sufi-oriented Islamic party Tarikat Federation came to prominence in three controversial elections. In alliance with the Awami League, it won two seats in 2014 and one in 2018.
However, no Islamic party won any seat in the 2024 “Dummy and me” election. Moreover, major Islamic parties, including Jamaat, along with the BNP, boycotted the 2014 and 2024 elections.
Political analyst Zahed Ur Rahman told Prothom Alo that this rise of Islamic parties does not appear to be permanent. Many Islamic parties did not publicly present their core agenda this time and even tried to downplay Islamic issues. Therefore, it cannot be said that they gained votes because of Islamic politics.
He believes another factor was the absence of the Awami League, whose activities were banned, from the election. This situation might not exist if the party had participated.
Elections from 1991 to 1996
Following the fall of autocratic ruler Hussain Muhammad Ershad, 12 Islamic parties took part in the 1991 election. Apart from Jamaat, all others combined failed to secure even two per cent of the vote.
Jamaat-e-Islami contested 222 seats and won 18, securing more than 12 per cent of the vote. Meanwhile, Islami Oikya Jote contested 59 seats and won one with a vote share of below one per cent. Zaker Party contested 251 seats but won none. Bangladesh Khelafat Andolan contested 43 seats without any victory.
Bangladesh Islami Front contested 15 seats and secured only a small number of votes. Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Front contested three seats. Bangladesh Nezame Islam Party also contested three seats.
In the 1996 election, 13 Islamic parties participated. Jamaat-e-Islami contested all 300 seats, winning three. Its vote share dropped to 8.5 per cent. Islami Oikya Jote contested 166 seats and won one, with nearly two per cent of the vote. No other Islamic party secured a parliamentary seat.
The 2001 Election
In the 2001 election, Islamic parties began alliance politics with major political parties. Eight Islamic parties participated. Jamaat and Islami Oikya Jote contested under the BNP-led alliance, while several others joined the Jatiya Party under the banner of the Islamic Oikya Front.
Analysis shows that Jamaat contested 31 seats and won 17 with its vote share dropping to four per cent. Another alliance partner, Islami Oikya Jote, contested seven seats and won two, securing less than one per cent of the vote. Although Ershad’s Jatiya Party contested under the Islamic Oikya Front banner, none of its allies won. No other Islamic party secured any seat in that election.
The 2008 Election
Ten Islamic parties took part in the 2008 election. Jamaat and Islami Oikya Jote again contested in alliance with the BNP, while others ran independently. Although Tarikat Federation did not formally join any alliance, it contested while maintaining a degree of affinity with the Awami League.
In that election, Jamaat-e-Islami contested 39 seats but won only two, with less than five per cent of the vote. Islami Oikya Jote contested four seats but won none. Islami Andolan Bangladesh, led by the Charmonai Pir, contested the highest number of constituencies, 167, yet failed to secure any seat. Other parties contested multiple seats but neither won nor gained significant votes.