The leader of Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party and prime ministerial hopeful Shafiqur Rahman has contested three elections and lost.
This time, he hopes to finally win.
Voters in the Muslim-majority nation will go to the polls on Thursday for the first time since a 2024 uprising toppled Sheikh Hasina. During her 15 years as prime minister, she crushed Islamist movements.
Now Rahman, a 67-year-old doctor and preacher, hopes his 11-party alliance will deliver him victory, worrying critics and minorities who fear an Islamist win could come at their expense.
“I stand for moral renewal in society,” Rahman vowed in his election promises.
If successful, the former political prisoner could form the first Islamist-led government in constitutionally secular Bangladesh.
Dressed entirely in white, including a flowing white beard, he cuts a distinctive figure on the campaign trail – where his Jamaat-e-Islami party has put forward only male candidates.
“Good governance is the foundation of stability, peace and prosperity,” he said, pledging rule-based and corruption-free leadership.
Ex-prime minister Hasina, who was close to the Hindu-nationalist government of neighbouring India, targeted Islamist supporters and cracked down on extremists, killing scores and arresting hundreds.
Since her fall, key Islamist leaders have been released from prison.