Though the date for Bangladesh’s upcoming 13th National Parliamentary Election has yet to be announced, a significant portion of the country’s youth believe that the opposition party BNP will secure the most votes, according to a recent survey conducted by the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM).
According to the findings, 38.76% of respondents think the BNP will emerge as the leading party in the upcoming election. Jamaat-e-Islami, once barred from election participation, ranked second with 21.45% support among youth.
The newly formed Nationalist Citizen Party (NCP) secured third place with 15.84% of the respondents predicting it would receive votes.
The survey also indicated that if the ousted Awami League is allowed to contest in the election, it might receive just over 15% of the votes. Other religious parties are projected to get a combined 4.59%, the Jatiya Party 3.77%, and various smaller parties only 0.57%.
Released on Sunday, July 6, the survey results offer a timely reflection of youth political sentiment in Bangladesh.
According to SANEM, the survey covered all divisions of the country, selecting two districts from each division and two upazilas from each district. A total of 2,000 youth respondents aged between 15 and 35 participated in the survey.
Among them, 40% had education levels below SSC, while 60% were SSC graduates or above. The study found notable gender-based differences in political preferences. Among male participants, 40% supported BNP, 22.21% backed Jamaat, and 14.44% favored NCP. For female participants, 37.03% supported BNP, 20.57% Jamaat, and 17.47% NCP.
The survey also reported balanced participation between urban and rural youth. Among rural respondents, BNP garnered 37.72% support, Jamaat 21.25%, and NCP 15.38%. In urban areas, BNP received 39.77%, Jamaat 21.66%, and NCP 16.28% support.
The survey also showed that the Awami League still retains some rural support at 16.62%, compared to 13.46% among urban youth.
