In the last three elections in Bangladesh, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League party faced allegations of abolishing voting rights, leading major opposition parties to boycott the elections.
Now, following his ouster in last year’s student-led uprising, his party finds itself out of the upcoming vote in February 2026. Hasina, now living in self-imposed exile in India, has called for a boycott of next year’s elections.
The Awami League and its affiliated branches have been barred from political activities since May, following an executive order issued by the interim government.
The interim administration has not yet said whether the Awami League will be allowed to contest the upcoming national elections. But a clear signal came in July, when the Election Commission suspended the party’s iconic symbol, the boat, raising doubts among supporters about its future on the ballot.
In her first interview after fleeing India, Hasina told Reuters news agency on 29 October that banning the Awami League was “unjust” and “self-defeating” and would only divide Bangladesh. He also warned of a massive boycott by his supporters in next year’s elections.
Hasina urged supporters to vote
A UN report The Hasina government’s crackdown on street protests between July 15 and August 5, 2024, is estimated to have resulted in 1,400 deaths and thousands of injuries, most of them due to firing by security forces.
The United Nations said it was Bangladesh’s worst violence since its independence war in 1971, in which the Awami League had played a central role in the fight against Pakistani forces.
Hasina, along with senior Awami League leaders, is on trial for crimes against humanity related to last year’s rebellion and repression. A verdict is expected on November 13, with chief prosecutor Tajul Islam seeking the death penalty.
During the interview, the former Prime Minister dismissed the proceedings saying that “the guilty verdict is predetermined” and called on Awami League supporters to stay away from the elections.
“Millions of people support the Awami League, as things stand, they will not vote,” he told Reuters. “If you want a political system that works you can’t disenfranchise millions of people.”
The interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus has rejected calls to boycott Hasina.
Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam said, “There is no Awami League now.” “They’ll do a quick procession every now and then, maybe make a few people a few dollars. That’s all.”
What does banning Awami League mean for electoral inclusion?
Despite the press secretary’s dismissive tone, hard data suggests otherwise. Even in its worst performance in the 2001 elections, when it won only 62 seats out of 300, the Awami League polled over 22 million votes. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) remained ahead by just over a million votes despite winning 193 seats, highlighting the enduring popular base of the Awami League.
Senior journalist and political analyst Masood Kamal says that many Awami League supporters remain “ideologically and historically committed” to the party despite allegations against its leadership.
“Let us assume that the ‘autocratic regime’ of the Awami League has lost its support base. Nevertheless, it will still have no less than 10 million loyal voters. If the party is kept away from voting, what options will these voters have?” Kamal told DW.
An updated voter list published by the Election Commission in August showed 126 million registered voters, including more than 4.5 million new voters. Young adults from Generation Z, who led the rebellion that ousted Hasina, are expected to play a decisive role in the upcoming elections. Another update is expected, which may increase their number.
Election expert Badiul Alam Majumdar, head of the government’s Electoral Reforms Commission, believes that Hasina’s call to boycott will not have much impact.
“I don’t see any problem with the boat symbol disappearing from the ballot,” he told DW. “Supporters will still have options and can vote for the candidates of their choice.”
When asked about electoral inclusivity, Majumdar put the blame squarely on the Awami League. “They took it upon themselves to engage in criminal activity,” he said.
He said they should not be allowed to contest elections “until they accept the atrocities committed against them.”
“They are not even showing remorse or remorse for their actions.”
Political analyst Kamal argues that it is not the role of the government to punish a political party, but it should be left to the courts or the people.
“The public has seen the crimes committed by the previous government,” he told DW. “They should be the ones to reject it. The biggest punishment a party can get is through the ballot box.”
Small parties fear they could be next
It is not just the Awami League that is facing the threat of boycott. The Jatiya Party, which is often accused of legitimizing it by participating in previous elections when many others boycotted it, is also under pressure. Since the collapse of the Awami League, calls to ban the ethnic party have intensified, raising fears of a broader crackdown on political pluralism.
Although not officially banned, the Jatiya Party was excluded from the interim government’s year-long reform talks. The National Civic Party (NCP), formed by some leaders of the 2024 rebellion, has made banning the Jatiya Party one of its demands.
At a public event in Dhaka this week, NCP general secretary Akhtar Hussain preferred the jatiya party to the Awami League. “The government has assured that the Awami League will be kept out of the elections,” he said. “However, allowing the Jatiya Party is tantamount to allowing the Awami League.”
Jatiya Party general secretary Shamim Haider Patwari considers this mentality as a serious threat to the democratic progress of the country.
“Excluding the Jatiya Party from all discussions sends a clear message to the administration that there is no need to protect the rights of this party,” Patwari said in an interview with DW.
“This is going to be a rigged vote. The Jatiya Party is being considered an ‘almost banned’ party. This is not a good sign,” he said.
Demand to remove ban on Awami League
While Election Reform Commission chief Majumdar says the Awami League’s legal troubles are his own doing, rights groups, journalists and other parties in Bangladesh have condemned the government’s ban on the Awami League.
Six international human rights groups, including CIVICUS, Committee to Protect Journalists, Fortify Rights and Human Rights Watch, sent a joint letter to Bangladesh’s Chief Advisor Yunus, urging the government to lift the ban. He warned that such restrictions could harm democratic rights and political impartiality.
The letter called on the interim government to “avoid imposing political party bans, which would undermine the return to genuine multi-party democracy and effectively disenfranchise a large portion of the Bangladeshi electorate.”
Journalist Masood Kamal argues that “banning a political party with an executive order” is “not a sign of a civilized society.”
Kamal said, “The irony is that this government was meant for unity. Instead, it has become an instrument of division.”
Edited by: Carl Sexton