Bangladesh (MNN) — On Thursday, Bangladesh will have its first national elections since the 2024 Gen Z protests toppled former prime minister Sheikh Hasina from power.
More than 127 million voters will choose from nearly 2,000 candidates to fill 350 seats in parliament — 300 seats elected, with 50 additional seats reserved for women chosen later based on party performance in the election.
“The observers from the European Union call this election in Bangladesh the biggest democratic process of 2026,” says Bruce Allen with FMI. “Bangladesh is only about the size of Iowa — and yet it has the equivalent population of about half of the US.”
Young man in Bangladesh. (Photo courtesy of Tarikul Raana K/Unsplash)
The social climate in Bangladesh has been one of uncertainty. FMI partners tell Allen that under the current caretaker government of Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, “there’s an indifference to the rising militance in the country, so persecution has increased, anger, as well as rising price of commodities. It’s been a mess,” says Allen.
“So people are looking forward to [having] this election, finally. It had been put off time and time again. People are eager, but they’re also in this sense of ‘We don’t like where the country is right now.’”
Another factor to note is that Gen Z momentum has fractured. In December, the student-led National Citizen Party formed a multi-party alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami. This Islamist party has a checkered past, yet many are buying its campaign promises. (More on that here.)
Pressure on the church
Allen says minorities in Bangladesh, such as Christians, Hindus, and Buddhists, feel the insecurity even more profoundly. “Pray for us, for wisdom, for clarity as we speak. Since radical Muslims are being energized by the current chaos, the church planters and their congregations really face a lot of threats.”
Pastor Jit shares the message of Christ with a family in rural Bangladesh (Photo courtesy of FMI)
Pastor “Mintu” and his congregation were about to break ground for a church building when their formerly willing Muslim neighbors stopped them. For the past year and a half, the work has been halted.
“Land rights operate a little differently in Bangladesh than here in the US. Many Christians live not on land that they own, but on government-owned lands, and their Muslim neighbors can evict them at any time,” says Allen. “So there’s this very delicate relationship between Christians in a community and their Muslim neighbors, because the Muslim majority wields all the power.”
Yet FMI partners see the good news of Jesus at work in people’s hearts, no matter the situation. They report new families coming to Christ, small groups of new believers preparing for baptism, and individuals being discipled.
“We have to remember that just because a government or a society may be closed to the gospel does not mean that individuals in that society are closed,” Allen says. “Pray for the church planters’ stamina, for their courage as well, for their ability to relate well to those who are in authority.”
As campaigning ends this week, pray for Bangladesh as a nation.
Pastor “Mintu” baptizes a young woman in Bangladesh (Photo courtesy of FMI)
“People are trying to make their last bold, loudest statements, so pray for the stability of the country and that the elections can proceed without violence, without corruption,” says Allen.
“Pray that the gospel of Christ is not stopped in any of these circumstances, and that those who are hearing the gospel for the first time — or maybe they’re doing some investigation — pray that they openly accept the gospel.”
Header photo of the flag of Bangladesh courtesy of Bornil Amin via Unsplash.
