Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has issued a damning warning from her exile in New Delhi: unless her party, the Awami League, is allowed to contest next year’s national election, millions of its supporters will boycott the vote.
Her remarks come as the Election Commission in Bangladesh suspended the Awami League’s registration in May, and an interim administration led by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus has banned all party activities citing national security and war-crimes investigations into senior party figures. She stressed that while she is not asking party supporters to vote for other parties, a vote under these conditions would amount to disenfranchising millions.
Hasina rejected the charges against her — notably, accusations of crimes against humanity for the deadly crackdown between July 15 and August 5, 2024, where the UN estimates up to 1,400 people were killed. In her view, the tribunal proceedings are politically motivated and a foregone conclusion.
Despite the crisis, she remains firm that the Awami League will eventually return to Bangladesh’s political stage—whether in government or as opposition—but emphasises it does not depend on her personally or her family
