# 2023 Bangladesh Jatiya Sangsad by-elections

In 2023, by-elections are scheduled to be held for vacant seats in the Jatiya Sangsad, the legislative body of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. In the Jatiya Sangsad, MPs for 300 seats are elected directly and MPs for 50 reserved women seats are elected indirectly by the MPs, thus popular by-elections are only held in the direct seats. As the 11th parliament is scheduled to be expire on 29 January 2024 and the Election Commission has announced to hold the next Bangladeshi general election between late December 2023 to early January 2024, all candidates elected by these by-polls will be members of the 11th Jatiya Sangsad.
By-elections this year held much more significance than other by-elections during this (11th) parliament. Bangladesh has experienced democratic backsliding in recent years. Although all of the by-elections are boycotted by Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies. BNP and its allies, which are the 'political opposition' of the AL, has continuously accused the ruling Awami League of vote rigging and electoral dishonesty.
The first by-election was held after being postponed by the Election Commission after they witnessed 'mass irregularities', which other parties and observers had alleged before. However, the seat was later won by the ruling party.
Seven of the by-polls were held due to the resignation of BNP lawmakers from the parliament in December 2022 as part of their anti-governmental campaign. One of them was an MP for a reserved seat. The direct seats were all won by AL-backed candidates except one. BNP's Abdus Sattar Bhuiyan resigned from the party to re-run in the election and won. His election led to major political discussions and the popularization of the term 'candidate models'.
Except these, by-elections were held in Chattogram-8, Dhaka-17 and Chattogram-10 with a very low voter turnout, with the AL candidate winning in the Netrokona-4 and Natore-4 unopposed. Incidents regarding the Dhaka-17 by-election resulted in some diplomatic and domestic actions and reactions. Eventually, political oppositions of the AL are predicted to continue boycotting elections under the current government led by Sheikh Hasina.

## Reasons and schedules for by-elections
### Events leading to by-elections

As of 1 August 2023, there were 12 by-elections held in the country due to these following reasons:
| Date | Constituency | Reason | Vacancy Date | Further information |
| 4 January 2023 | Gaibandha-5 | Due to the midway postponement of a by-election in the same constituency on 12 October 2022 due to irregularities. | 23 July 2022 | The by-polls in October 2022 were being held because the seat felt vacant after the death of the MP Fazle Rabbi Miah (AL) on 23 July 2022. |
| 1 February 2023 | Thakurgaon-3 | Due to the resignation of the MP Zahidur Rahman (BNP). | 11 December 2022 | All of these lawmakers resigned as a part of their antigovernmental protests. The announcements were made on 10 December 2022 in a BNP rally. They submitted their letter the next day. The CN-3 MP had to re-submit his letter because the signature he put was scanned as he was abroad, thus delaying the vacancy process. |
| 1 February 2023 | Bogura-4 | Due to the resignation of the MP Mohamod Mosharof Hosen (BNP). | 11 December 2022 | All of these lawmakers resigned as a part of their antigovernmental protests. The announcements were made on 10 December 2022 in a BNP rally. They submitted their letter the next day. The CN-3 MP had to re-submit his letter because the signature he put was scanned as he was abroad, thus delaying the vacancy process. |
| 1 February 2023 | Bogura-6 | Due to the resignation of the MP Gulam Mohammad Siraj (BNP). | 11 December 2022 | All of these lawmakers resigned as a part of their antigovernmental protests. The announcements were made on 10 December 2022 in a BNP rally. They submitted their letter the next day. The CN-3 MP had to re-submit his letter because the signature he put was scanned as he was abroad, thus delaying the vacancy process. |
| 1 February 2023 | Chapai Nawabganj-2 | Due to the resignation of the MP Mohammad Aminul Islam (BNP). | 11 December 2022 | All of these lawmakers resigned as a part of their antigovernmental protests. The announcements were made on 10 December 2022 in a BNP rally. They submitted their letter the next day. The CN-3 MP had to re-submit his letter because the signature he put was scanned as he was abroad, thus delaying the vacancy process. |
| 1 February 2023 | Brahmanbaria-2 | Due to the resignation of the MP Ukil Abdus Sattar Bhuiyan (BNP). | 11 December 2022 | All of these lawmakers resigned as a part of their antigovernmental protests. The announcements were made on 10 December 2022 in a BNP rally. They submitted their letter the next day. The CN-3 MP had to re-submit his letter because the signature he put was scanned as he was abroad, thus delaying the vacancy process. |
| 1 February 2023 | Chapai Nawabganj-3 | Due to the resignation of the MP Harunur Rashid (BNP). | 22 December 2022 | All of these lawmakers resigned as a part of their antigovernmental protests. The announcements were made on 10 December 2022 in a BNP rally. They submitted their letter the next day. The CN-3 MP had to re-submit his letter because the signature he put was scanned as he was abroad, thus delaying the vacancy process. |
| 6 March 2023 | Reserved Seat for Women-50 | Due to the resignation of the MP Rumeen Farhana (BNP). | 11 December 2022 | All of these lawmakers resigned as a part of their antigovernmental protests. The announcements were made on 10 December 2022 in a BNP rally. They submitted their letter the next day. The CN-3 MP had to re-submit his letter because the signature he put was scanned as he was abroad, thus delaying the vacancy process. |
| 27 April 2023 | Chattogram-8 | Due to the death of the MP Moslem Uddin Ahmad (AL). | 6 February 2023 | |
| 17 July 2023 | Dhaka-17 | Due to the death of the MP Akbar Hossain Pathan Farooque (AL) | 15 May 2023 | |
| 30 July 2023 | Chattogram-10 | Due to the death of the MP Muhammad Afsarul Ameen (AL) | 2 June 2023 | |
| 30 July 2023 | Netrokona-4 | Due to the death of the MP Rebecca Momin (AL) | 11 July 2023 | |
| 5 November 2023 | Lakshmipur-3 | Due to the death of A. K. M. Shahjahan Kamal (AL) | 30 September 2023 | |
| 5 November 2023 | Brahmanbaria-2 | Due to the death of Abdul Sattar Bhuiyan (Independent) | 30 September 2023 | |

### By-election schedules
#### January

By-election was held for 1 vacant seat in the parliament.
| By-election event | Date |
| Election Date Announcement | 23.08.2022 |
| Last Date for Filling Nomination | 13.09.2022 |
| Scrutiny | 15.09.2022 |
| Withdrawal Last Date | 22.09.2022 |
| Electoral Symbol Allocation | 23.09.2022 |
| Voting & Results (postponed) | 12.10.2022 |
| Voting & Results (rescheduled) | 04.01.2023 |

#### February

By-elections were held for 6 vacant seats in the parliament.
| By-election event | Date |
| Election Date Announcement | 18.12.2022 & 26.12.2022 (CN-3) |
| Last Date for Filling Nomination | 05.01.2023 |
| Scrutiny | 08.01.2023 |
| Withdrawal Last Date | 15.01.2023 |
| Electoral Symbol Allocation | 16.01.2023 |
| Voting & Results | 01.02.2023 |

## Political parties and candidature
### Party-wise candidate list

* Political parties:
* Independent(s): 20 independent candidates competed in 10 different seats.
| Party | Seats Contested | Seats Won |
| Bangladesh Awami League | 12 | 12 |
| Jatiya Party-JaPa | 10 | 1 |
| Zaker Party | 8 | — |
| National People's Party-NPP | 4 | — |
| Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal-JaSaD | 3 | 2 |
| Bangladesh Nationalist Front-BNF | 3 | — |
| Trinomool Bangladesh National Party | 2 | — |
| Bangladesh Congress | 2 | — |
| Bangladesh Sanskritik Muktijot (Muktijot) | 2 | — |
| Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh | 1 | — |
| Workers Party of Bangladesh | 1 | — |
| Bangladesh Khilafat Andolan | 1 | — |
| Bangladesh Islami Front | 1 | — |
| Islamic Front Bangladesh | 1 | — |
| Gano Front | 1 | — |
| Independent | 10 | 1 |

## Election(s)
### Gaibandha-5

The Gaibandha-5 seat is the 33rd constituency of the parliament, which has been in control of JaPa and AL in different times. Miah won as a JaPa candidate on this seat in 1986 and 1991. Miah later joined AL and lost in 2001 to JaPa's Raushan Ershad, and then he won beating Raushan in 2008. He then served as the MP of this seat and as the Deputy Speaker of the parliament until his death on 22 July 2022, winning all elections in the midway as an AL candidate.
As the Election Commission announced the election schedule, only three political parties nominated candidates. Among four to five nomination seekers, AL nominated Mahmud Hasan as their party candidate, who was the former president of Chhatra League (AL's student-wing) from 2006 to 2011. On the other hand, JaPa nominated Golam Shahid Ranju, who was the Vice-Chairman of the party in Gaibandha during the election. Ranju also ran as a JaPa candidate 2018, but he lost to Miah by a large margin. Apart from these two, Bikalpa Dhara's Jahangir Alam and six independent candidates submitted nomination papers, although four of the independent candidates' candidacy were cancelled after scrutiny.

### Brahmanbaria-2
## Results
### Summary

Seats :
| Party | Candidates | | % | Direct | Reserved | Total |
| Bangladesh Awami League | | 564,912 | 49.98 | 12 | | 12 |
| Jatiya Party-JaPa (Ershad) | | 162,166 | 14.35 | 1 | | 1 |
| Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Inu) | 3 | 21,745 | 1.92 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Zaker Party | | 13,113 | 1.16 | | | |
| Workers Party of Bangladesh | 1 | 11,356 | 1.00 | | | |
| Bangladesh Nationalist Front | | 6,925 | 0.61 | | | |
| Bangladesh Islami Front | 1 | 5,087 | 0.45 | | | |
| Bangladesh Congress | | 3,610 | | | | |
| National People's Party (Shalu) | | 2,878 | | | | |
| Islamic Front Bangladesh | 1 | 1,860 | | | | |
| Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh | 1 | 1,796 | | | | |
| Trinomool BNP | 2 | 1,432 | | | | |
| Bangladesh Sankrtitic Muktijote | 2 | 643 | | | | |
| Bangladesh Khilafat Andolan | 1 | 468 | | | | |
| Gano Front | 1 | 170 | | | | |
| Independent(s) | | 320,861 | | 1 | | 1 |

### Constituency-wise
#### Gaibandha-5

2023 Bangladesh parliamentary by-elections: Gaibandha-5 (Saghata-Fulchhari) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | AL | Mahmud Hasan Ripon | 78,276 | 60.39% | — |
| | JP(E) | A. H. M. Golam Shahid Ranju | 44,950 | 34.68% | 31.28pp |
| | Independent | Syed Md. Mahbubur Rahman | 2,950 | 2.27% | — |
| | BDB | Md. Jahangir Alam | 1,796 | 1.38% | — |
| | Independent | Nahiduzzaman Nishad | 1,640 | 1.26% | — |
| Margin of victory | Margin of victory | Margin of victory | 33,326 | 25.71% | — |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 129,612 | 38.23% | 48.52pp |
| | AL hold | AL hold | Swing | | |

#### Thakurgaon-3

2023 Bangladesh parliamentary by-elections: 5 Thakurgaon-3 (Pirganj-Ranisankail) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | JP(E) | Hafiz Uddin Ahmed | 84,047 | 55.90% | — |
| | Independent | Golap Chandra Roy | 50,309 | 33.46% | — |
| | WPB | Md. Yeasin Ali | 11,356 | 7.56% | — |
| | Zaker Party | Emdadul Haque | 2,257 | 1.50% | — |
| | BNF | Sirajul Islam | 1,412 | 0.94% | — |
| | National People's Party (Bangladesh) | Shafi Al Asad | 953 | 0.64% | — |
| Margin of victory | Margin of victory | Margin of victory | 33,738 | 22.44% | — |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 150,334 | 46.29% | 20.58 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 324,741 | | 24,724 |
| | JP(E) gain from BNP | JP(E) gain from BNP | Swing | | |

#### Bogura-4

2023 Bangladesh parliamentary by-elections: 39 Bogra-4 (Kahaloo-Nandigram) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | JSD | A. K. M. Rezaul Karim Tansen | 20,437 | TBD | — |
| | Independent | Hero Alom | 19,486 | TBD | — |
| | JP(E) | Shaheen Mustafa Kamal Faruque | TBD | TBD | — |
| | Zaker Party | Abdur Rashid Sardar | TBD | TBD | — |
| | BCP | Md. Tajuddin Mandal | TBD | TBD | — |
| | Independent | Mushfiqur Rahman Kajal | TBD | TBD | — |
| | Independent | Kamrul Hasan Siddique Juel | TBD | TBD | — |
| | Independent | Elias Ali Mandal | TBD | TBD | — |
| | Independent | Golam Mustafa | TBD | TBD | — |
| Margin of victory | Margin of victory | Margin of victory | 951 | — | — |

#### Bogura-6

2023 Bangladesh parliamentary by-elections: 41 Bogra-6 (Bogura Sadar) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | AL | Ragebul Ahsan Ripu | 33,462 | TBD | — |
| | JP(E) | Nurul Islam Omar | TBD | TBD | — |
| | JSD | Imdadul Haque Imdad | TBD | TBD | — |
| | Gano Front | Afzal Hossain | TBD | TBD | — |
| | BKA | Md. Nazrul Islam | TBD | TBD | — |
| | Zaker Party | Md. Faysal Bin Shafiq | TBD | TBD | — |
| | Independent | Sarkar Badal | TBD | TBD | — |
| | Independent | Masudar Rahman Helal | TBD | TBD | — |
| | Independent | Abdul Mannan Akondo | TBD | TBD | — |
| | Independent | Hero Alom | 4,540 | TBD | — |
| | Independent | Raqib Khan | TBD | TBD | — |
| Margin of victory | Margin of victory | Margin of victory | — | — | — |

#### Chapai Nawabganj-2

2023 Bangladesh parliamentary by-elections: 44 Chapai Nawabganj-2 (Bholahat-Gomostapur-Nachole) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | AL | Muh. Ziaur Rahman | TBD | TBD | — |
| | JP(E) | Abdur Razzak | TBD | TBD | — |
| | Zaker Party | Ghulam Mostafa | TBD | TBD | — |
| | BNF | Nabiul Islam | TBD | TBD | — |
| | Independent | Khursid Alam | TBD | TBD | — |
| | Independent | Mohammad Ali Sarkar | TBD | TBD | — |
| Margin of victory | Margin of victory | Margin of victory | — | — | — |

#### Chapai Nawabganj-3

2023 Bangladesh parliamentary by-elections: 45 Chapai Nawabganj-3 (Nawabganj Sadar) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | AL | Md. Abdul Wadud Bishwas | TBD | TBD | — |
| | BNF | Kamruzzaman Khan | TBD | TBD | — |
| | Independent | Samiul Haque Liton | TBD | TBD | — |
| Margin of victory | Margin of victory | Margin of victory | — | — | — |

#### Brahmanbaria-2

2023 Bangladesh parliamentary by-elections: 244 Brahmanbaria-2 (Sarail-Ashuganj) :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Independent | Ukil Abdus Sattar Bhuiyan | 46,323 | — | — |
| | JP(E) | Abdul Hamid Bhashani | 9,580 | — | — |
| | Independent | Abu Asif Ahmed | 3,238 | — | — |
| | Zaker Party | Zahirul Islam | 1,427 | — | — |
| | Independent | Ziaul Haque Mridha | 420 | — | — |
| Margin of victory | Margin of victory | Margin of victory | 36,543 | — | — |
| | Independent gain from BNP | Independent gain from BNP | Swing | | |