China Congratulates Bangladesh on Election, Vows to Strengthen Strategic Ties

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian made the remarks, as shared in a post by the official MFA Spokesperson account on X.

"Congratulations to #Bangladesh on a smooth and successful election, and to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party #BNP on winning the election," the official statement from the Chinese MFA Spokesperson read.

"As Bangladesh's friend and neighbour, China supports Bangladesh in advancing its domestic political agenda and looks forward to working with Bangladesh to carry forward the time-honoured friendship, deepen high-quality Belt and Road cooperation as well as cooperation in other areas, and further strengthen the China-Bangladesh comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership," the statement added.

The congratulatory message came alongside the official declaration of results for 297 parliamentary constituencies by Bangladesh's Election Commission (EC).

Results for Chattogram-2 and Chattogram-4 remain suspended and will be announced later, while the outcome of one other constituency was deferred earlier, as reported by Prothom Alo.

The EC issued separate suspension letters for Sherpur-2, Chattogram-2 and Chattogram-4 on February 12 due to pending court cases.

The result for Sherpur-2 has since been declared, though its official gazette publication is currently on hold.

The elections, held on Thursday alongside a concurrent referendum, saw a voter turnout of 60.26 per cent for the referendum component.

Across the 297 declared seats, a total of 48,074,429 'Yes' votes were cast in the referendum, compared to 22,565,627 'No' votes.

These figures were shared by EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed during a media briefing at the Election Commission headquarters in Agargaon, Dhaka, on Friday.

In the parliamentary results for these 297 seats, the BNP and its allies secured a decisive 212 seats, marking a landslide victory.

The 11-party alliance led by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami won 77 seats.

Islami Andolan Bangladesh took one seat, and independent candidates claimed seven.

A further breakdown shows the BNP winning 209 seats independently.

Jamaat-e-Islami secured 68 seats; NCP, six; Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis, two; Khelafat Majlis, one; Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP), one; Ganosamhati Andolon, one; and Gono Odhikar Parishad, one, as per Prothom Alo.

The overwhelming 'Yes' victory in the referendum, conducted to endorse the constitutional proposals outlined in the July National Charter, provides strong public backing for implementing proposed state reforms.

Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed reiterated these voting figures in his briefing to journalists at the Election Building in Agargaon today, according to Prothom Alo.

- ANI