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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday (local time) congratulated the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), its Chairman Tarique Rahman, and the people of Bangladesh after the party's landslide win in the 13th National Parliamentary Election.
Rubio shared the remarks on the social media platform X, writing, "Congratulations to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), party leader Tarique Rahman, and the people of Bangladesh." Emphasising the significance of ties with the incoming administration, he said the United States looks forward to engaging with Bangladesh's newly elected government to advance regional prosperity, stability, and security. The message comes amid a wave of international acknowledgements following the BNP-led alliance's landslide success in Thursday's polls, 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, recorded a voter turnout of 60.26 per cent for the referendum component. Across the 297 declared seats, 48,074,429 'Yes' votes were cast in the referendum, compared with 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, while 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 the 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)
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