A First Step Forward? Bangladesh’s First Democratic Elections

It was one of the first major successful protests to draw international attention under the "Gen Z" label: Bangladesh’s July Movement of 2024. By the following August, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had fled to India — ending 15 years of government and authoritarian consolidation.

After eighteen months of transitional rule, the country held its first democratic elections in February, which the Bangladesh National Party won. But is this truly the democratic fresh start that the protest movement — driven in large part by women — had hoped for?