‘Illegal exercise’: Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League calls for nationwide boycott of February 12 polls in Bangladesh

The Awami League leadership, which continues to live in exile since the 2024 student-led uprising uprooted the Sheikh Hasina regime, has called for a nationwide boycott of the February 12 general elections in Bangladesh.

Calling the upcoming polls an “illegal exercise”, Mohammad A Arafat, former Bangladeshi Minister of State for Information and a prominent face of Hasina’s Awami League urged the people of Bangladesh, including party workers and supporters, to stay away from the elections.

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“The only way to protest this fascist exclusion is to boycott the elections entirely,” Arafat said at a virtual press conference organized by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of South Asia and the International Association of Press Clubs in New Delhi.

The Mohammad Yunus-led interim government in Bangladesh has banned the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League from participating in the elections.

Arafat slammed Yunus, accusing him of conducting a “one-sided and rigged” election that the Awami League leader claimed would be “null and void” in future.

He further called on India and other countries to ensure the voices of the people of Bangladesh are heard and democracy is restored in the country. This, he said, will happen only when a free and fair election is held.

During the virtual press briefing, an audio message from Sheikh Hasina was also released. In the message, Hasina called Yunus “the murderous fascist, a usurer, a money launderer, a plunderer, and a corrupt, power-hungry traitor.”

She urged the people of Bangladesh to unite, restore the Constitution, overthrow the foreign-serving puppet regime of the national enemy, reclaim independence, and banish the divisive actions of the past twelve months.

“First, restore democracy by removing the illegal Yunus administration. Second, put an end to the daily acts of violence we are seeing on our streets. Third, deliver an ironclad guarantee ensuring the safety of religious minority groups, women and girls, and the most vulnerable in our society. Fourth, end politically motivated acts of lawfare used to intimidate, silence, and jail journalists and members of the Bangladesh Awami League and opposition political parties. Fifth, invite the United Nations to conduct a new and truly impartial investigation into the events of the past year…,” she outlined five steps to “heal” the country and make it a better and stronger Bangladesh.

Hasina also demanded an impartial investigation by the United Nations into the events that led to her ousting.