Women, minority representation at two-decade low in Bangladesh

Bangladesh's recent elections show the lowest representation of women and minorities in over two decades, highlighting urgent electoral reform needs.

As the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) secured a landslide victory, the 13th national polls have recorded the lowest representation of women and ethnic minorities in Bangladesh in over two decades. Only seven women have been directly elected to Parliament, while representation from religious and ethnic minority communities has also fallen, with just four candidates elected.

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Of the seven women elected, six are BNP nominees. The seventh is an independent candidate who was expelled from the BNP ahead of the polls.

This election marks a significant decline in women’s representation in the national Parliament compared to recent polls. In the 12th national election in 2024, 19 women won general seats. The numbers were higher in the two preceding parliaments, with 22 women elected in 2018 and 18 in 2014. The highest figure in the past two decades was recorded in 2008, when 19 women were elected. The latest polls have produced the lowest number since 2001.

According to Election Commission data, only 84 women contested the election accounting for barely 4.08% of the total candidate pool. Among party nominees, the BNP fielded 10 women, the National Citizen Party (NCP) three, the Jatiya Party six, and Gono Odhikar Parishad three. Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Andolan Bangladesh did not nominate any woman candidates.

The four candidates from religious and ethnic minority communities who won the election are from the BNP. They are Goyeshwar Chandra Roy (Dhaka-3), Nitai Roy Chowdhury (Magura-2), Saching Pru (Bandarban), and Dipen Dewan (Rangamati).