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Exiled Sheikh Hasina Warns of Boycott and Division Over Awami League Election Ban
Exiled former PM Sheikh Hasina warns that banning the Awami League from Bangladesh’s 2026 elections will “deepen national divisions” as millions of her supporters vow to boycott the vote.
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by Muhammad Hashir
2025-10-29
Exiled Sheikh Hasina Warns of Boycott and Division Over Awami League Election Ban

Exiled former Bangladeshi leader Sheikh Hasina has warned that barring her Awami League (AL) party from contesting next year’s general elections will only worsen political divisions across the country, with millions of her supporters expected to boycott the polls.

Speaking from India, where she fled following her ouster in August 2024, the 78-year-old former prime minister told Reuters that the decision by the interim government to ban the Awami League under newly amended antiterrorism laws was “unjust and self-defeating.”

“The ban on the Awami League is not only unjust, it is self-defeating,” Hasina said. “Millions of people support the Awami League, so as things stand, they will not vote. You cannot disenfranchise millions of people if you want a political system that works.”

Hasina’s removal came after a student-led uprising that left up to 1,400 people dead, according to the United Nations, amid violent clashes and a brutal crackdown as she clung to power.

The interim administration, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, has vowed to conduct free and fair elections in February 2026, but it has excluded the Awami League, citing national security concerns and ongoing war crimes investigations into the party’s top leadership.

Human Rights Watch has condemned the ban as “draconian”, warning it risks further destabilizing Bangladesh’s fragile political landscape.

With the Awami League sidelined, analysts predict a likely resurgence of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)—its longtime rival—and a surge in support for Jamaat-e-Islami, the country’s largest Islamist party.

“We are not asking Awami League voters to support other parties,” Hasina said. “We still hope common sense will prevail and we will be allowed to contest the election ourselves.”

War Crimes Trial Nears Verdict

Hasina is currently being tried in absentia by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Dhaka for alleged crimes against humanity during her final months in office.

Chief Prosecutor Tajul Islam described Hasina as “the nucleus around whom all the crimes were committed” during the 2024 uprising, urging the court to impose the death penalty if she is found guilty.

Prosecutors have presented audiotapes verified by police that allegedly capture Hasina ordering her forces to “use lethal weapons” against protesters. The former premier has dismissed the proceedings as “politically motivated”, calling the ICT a “kangaroo court with a foregone conclusion.”

In a separate interview with AFP, Hasina said she “mourned all the lives lost” but rejected accusations that she had ordered troops to fire on civilians, calling the charges “bogus.”

Meanwhile, Awami League lawyers have asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague to investigate alleged “retaliatory violence” against party supporters, including “beatings and lynchings” in the months following her ouster.

The verdict in Hasina’s case is expected on November 13, a decision that could shape the course of Bangladesh’s political future as it heads toward a deeply polarized election.
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