Sheikh Hasina Wajed, Bangladesh's former prime minister, won a landslide victory yesterday in the first election for seven years, crushing -Khaleda Zia, her archrival.

The resounding victory of Sheikh Hasina's Mohajot alliance restored democracy to the south Asian country after two years of de facto military rule. The coalition won 263 seats of the 300-seat parliament. Sheikh Hasina's party, the secular centre-left Awami League, alone won 229 seats.