Interim government Chief Adviser Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus cast his vote in Bangladesh’s 13th parliamentary election and national referendum on Thursday morning. He exercised his voting right at 10 a.m. at the Gulshan Model School and College center in Dhaka.

The much-anticipated election and referendum began at 7:30 a.m. and will continue uninterrupted until 4:30 p.m. across 42,958 polling centers in 299 constituencies. Voting in the Sherpur-3 constituency has been postponed due to the death of a Jamaat-e-Islami candidate. The election is expected to establish an elected government, marking a key step in Bangladesh’s transition toward democracy.

According to the report, citizens are voting freely for the first time in one and a half decades, choosing the country’s leadership for the next five years. Alongside the parliamentary election, voters are also participating in a referendum on state reforms taking place on the same day.