Baseless claims that Bangladesh vote 'postponed' mislead online
- Published on February 11, 2026 at 09:24
- 2 min read
- By Eyamin SAJID, AFP Bangladesh
Ahead of Bangladesh's February 12, 2026 national election -- its first since former leader Sheikh Hasina was ousted -- rumours swirled online the poll has been "declared postponed". These claims are baseless, with election officials confirming to AFP that voting will proceed as expected.
"Praise be to God, the election has been declared postponed," reads a Bengali-language Facebook post shared on February 7.
Another Facebook user shared a supposed "breaking news" post the same day that "voting has been suspended in Gazipur-5 parliamentary constituency", referring to a district in the capital Dhaka.
Similar claims surfaced elsewhere on Facebook as the South Asian nation is all set to hold its first national election after the fall of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina in an uprising in August 2024 (archived link).
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by Tarique Rahman -- who returned in December after 17 years in exile -- is widely tipped as a frontrunner.
The BNP's key rival is Jamaat-e-Islami, the Muslim-majority nation's largest Islamist party led by Shafiqur Rahman.
Hasina's Awami League has been banned by the interim government (archived link).
Facebook users appear to believe the posts, with one user commenting, "How can you expect a vote without a boat" -- an apparent reference to the symbol of Awami League.
"It's good news for Bangladesh," another said.
But the claims are false, with an Election Commission official confirming that voting will proceed across Bangladesh on February 12 (archived link).
"Elections will be held in 299 out of 300 constituencies," Election Commissioner Brigadier General Abul Fazal Muhammad Sanaullah told AFP on February 11, explaining that "one was postponed in Sherpur due to the demise of a candidate".
According to local newspaper The Daily Star, a candidate in the northern district of Sherpur who had been suffering from kidney problems died on February 4, prompting polls to be postponed in his constituency (archived link).
Voting equipment
The first post claiming postponement linked to a February 7 report on the Facebook page of private TV station Channel i, which showed people sitting on a panel (archived link).
"The February 12 election will not be inclusive if Awami League is excluded: CPD," reads the caption embedded in the picture.
Channel i reported that think-tank Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) said the election's credibility could be called into question if a large portion of Bangladeshi society -- namely those who support Hasina's party -- are ignored, or if they do not participate in the vote (archived link).
The article says nothing about the election being postponed.
Bengali newspaper Prothom Alo published a story about CPD's press conference, which has no mention of an election suspension (archived link).
A keyword search for the second claim about Gazipur district's voting being suspended found an article published by Bengali newspaper the Daily Kaler Kantho, which said the distribution of voting equipment had been postponed by the local district administration to February 8 (archived link).
Gazipur district commissioner Md Alam Hossain told AFP on February 11 that claims about his constituency postponing the election "is totally fake".
"We have distributed the election equipment on February 8," he said, adding that his constituency will vote as planned.
AFP has previously debunked other false claims about Bangladesh's upcoming election.
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