crs_reports: R48975

Congressional Research Service reports with summaries, authors, and topic classifications.

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R48975 Recent Political Developments in Bangladesh: Background and Issues for Congress 2026-06-05T04:00:00Z 2026-06-10T10:52:53Z Active Reports Maria A. Blackwood   On February 12, 2025, Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority South Asian country of 176 million, held parliamentary elections and a concurrent referendum. Sixty-eight percent of voters endorsed the July National Charter, which proposed changes to “reconstruct the state on the foundation of democracy and human dignity.” At the same time, voters gave one of the country’s two historically dominant political parties, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), a parliamentary supermajority. The party’s leader, Tarique Rahman, was sworn in as Prime Minister on February 17. The elections follow a period of turbulence; in August 2024, student-led protests led to the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of the Awami League (AL), seven months into her fourth consecutive term in office. After Hasina fled to India, an interim government headed by Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize-winning economist, assumed power and initiated a reform process. Although the interim government enjoyed general support, Yunus’s administration encountered ongoing challenges that the new government now faces, including crime, inflation, human rights concerns, and the rise of Islamist groups. Rahman has committed to bolstering democracy in Bangladesh, but some observers have questioned the extent to which his party may implement the July Charter. This report discusses recent political developments in Bangladesh, including the 2024 demonstrations that led to the collapse of Sheikh Hasina’s government, the interim government under Yunus, and ensuing parliamentary elections, as well as changes that have taken place in Bangladesh’s politics and foreign policy, economic challenges, and human rights concerns. https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/R/PDF/R48975/R48975.3.pdf https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/R/HTML/R48975.html

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