People stand next to a campaign poster of the ruling party during the parliamentary election in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Jan 7, 2024. (PHOTO / AP)

DHAKA - Bangladesh's ruling Awami League (AL) party of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has gained more than 70 percent of parliamentary seats in the country's general elections, with the results of around 290 seats initially declared by Election Commission (EC) officials Sunday night.

Bangladesh held general elections on Sunday to elect 299 members of parliament. Voting at a constituency has been postponed due to the death of a candidate.

The Election Commission said earlier that 27 percent of the votes were cast in the first seven hours from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm local time on Sunday

Over 260 candidates from the ruling AL party joined the national elections. The voting began at 8:00 am local time and concluded at 4:00 pm local time in over 42,000 voting centers nationwide.

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Foreign election observers have also roamed around different polling centers openly since Sunday morning. After visiting polling centers, some of the foreign observers described the polls as free, fair, peaceful, successful and legitimate.

In Bangladesh, a party can form a government if it manages to clinch 151 seats of parliament in total.

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The ruling AL party rose to power with a landslide election victory in 2009 and won its second term in 2014 and the third term in 2018.

Bangladeshi polling officials count votes after the voting ended at a polling station in Munshiganj, outside Dhaka, Bangladesh, Jan 7, 2024. (PHOTO / AP)

In her past 15 years in power, AL President and Prime Minister Hasina has been credited with turning around the economy and the massive garments industry, while winning international praise for sheltering Rohingya Muslims.

Hasina herself bagged 249,962 votes from her constituency Gopalganj, about 165 kilometers (103 miles) south of the capital Dhaka, while her nearest rival secured just 469 votes.

"I am trying my best to ensure that democracy should continue in this country," Hasina said on Sunday after casting her vote at the Dhaka City College polling center.

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She has instructed party leaders and supporters not to bring out any victory processions or indulge in celebrations, said Awami League's general secretary Obaidul Quader.

There are nearly 120 million registered voters in the South Asian country. The EC said earlier that 27 percent of the votes were cast in the first seven hours from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm local time on Sunday.

To facilitate the voting process, a public holiday has been declared across the country.

With Reuters inputs