Out of 51 political parties contesting Bangladesh’s upcoming national parliamentary election, 30 parties have nominated no female candidates at all, according to data released by the Election Commission. Of the 2,568 candidates contesting the February 12 election, only 109 are women, accounting for 4.24 percent of the total. Among them, 72 women are party nominees, while the remainder are running as independents.
Several major and minor parties have submitted large numbers of nominations without including a single woman. Jamaat-e-Islami submitted 276 nominations with no female candidates, followed by Islami Andolan Bangladesh (268), Bangladesh Khilafat Majlish (94), Khilafat Majlish (68), and Bangladesh Islami Front (27). A range of other parties—including the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Janata Dal, Bangladesh Congress, Jatiya Party (JP), and Bangladesh Nationalist Front—have also fielded exclusively male candidates.
Only 21 parties have nominated any women. Jatiya Party (GM Quader) and BASD (Marxist) each nominated nine women. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)—despite being led by women for decades—nominated 10 women out of 328 candidates. Other parties, including JSD, Gono Sammilani Andolan, BASD, AB Party, and the newly formed NCP, nominated between three and six women each.
Former Election Commission official Jasmine Tuli described the election as not women-friendly, citing financial barriers, entrenched social attitudes, and the absence of institutional support within parties. She noted that most women candidates come from political families rather than grassroots organizing, and that women’s visibility during political movements does not translate into electoral nominations.
Although the Representation of the People Order (RPO), 1972 mandates that political parties ensure 33 percent women’s representation in party committees, most parties remain noncompliant. The Election Commission extended the deadline to 2030, yet progress remains minimal. Members of election and women’s reform bodies have characterized the situation as deeply disappointing, pointing to a persistent gap between legal commitments and actual political practice.
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