Bangladesh holds pivotal first post-Hasina election (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Prongs of people are coming into a polling booth in Dhaka as Bangladesh votes in perhaps the most crucial election for more than a decade. It's the first one after a mass student uprising ousted this country's longest-serving Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina back in 2024. And I'm just going to show you what the atmosphere is like. It's very festive. And that is in stark contrast with what I have seen here in the past, when the atmosphere used to be really restricted and it was only really a single party on the ballot there for people. This time, the Awami League has been banned, which does cast a shadow on claims that this is a credible, free and fair election. But I think what can be said is that people are saying to us, when they go in to cast their ballot, they feel like, for the first time in a long time, they have an actual choice. The hope for people here is that Bangladesh returns to a democratic path after this election, with lots of challenges for whoever becomes the next leader. Inflation, the economy is not doing well. And they will also be tasked with providing safety and security for the minorities in this country.