A populist party, which led a sometimes violent movement that forced Bangladesh's prime minister to resign, finished first in parliamentary elections and set its sights Friday on forming the next government.
Sheikh Hasina's Awami League won the most seats in Parliament in Wednesday's vote, praised for its fairness by international election observers.Final official results won't be announced until next week after a handful of districts vote again because of reported irregularities.
But the Awami League is widely expected to emerge with a majority in the 300-seat legislature. Failing that, the League will attempt to lead a coalition government.
That would allow Bangladesh to preserve its young democracy and begin recovering from two years of general strikes that weakened its emerging economy and paralyzed the government.
Since winning independence in 1971, Bangladesh has seen two presidents assassinated, three coups and 18 coup attempts.
For 15 years, it was ruled by a military or quasi-military government. And Wednesday only marked its second reasonably free and fair election. The first occurred in 1991.
"Our main priority is to win in the repolling that takes place next week and to get an absolute majority in Parliament," Mohammed Selim, a top Awami League official, said Friday.