Hasina labelled the February 12 polls deceptive and essentially voterless.
She charged Muhammad Yunus with illegally holding power, manipulating voter rolls.
Hasina called for the complete cancellation of the results, Yunus’s resignation, release of all political prisoners (including teachers, journalists and intellectuals), withdrawal of allegedly fabricated cases.
Sheikh Hasina Condemns Bangladesh Polls As 'Well-Planned Farce'
From exile, former Prime Minister accuses interim government of staging a sham vote with empty polling stations and demands neutral caretaker-led polls to restore democracy
Summary
Bangladesh's ousted leader Sheikh Hasina has launched a scathing attack on the February 12 parliamentary elections, branding them a “well-planned farce” deliberately conducted without meaningful voter participation or her Awami League party. Speaking from self-imposed exile in India, the 78-year-old former Prime Minister described the vote organised under Muhammad Yunus’s interim administration as unconstitutional, illegitimate and a blatant violation of democratic norms and people’s fundamental rights.
In a statement circulated through Awami League channels, Hasina asserted that the elections were held “without the Awami League and without voters,” pointing to widespread reports of deserted polling booths, suspicious alterations to voter lists, and what she called orchestrated manipulation to produce a predetermined outcome. She accused Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus of illegally seizing power and engineering a fraudulent process that mocked the spirit of the Constitution.
Hasina expressed gratitude to citizens, minority communities and party activists who she said boycotted the polls en masse, interpreting the exceptionally low turnout as a powerful public rejection of the interim regime. She vowed that the Awami League would continue fighting for genuine democracy and urged supporters to remain united.
The freshly concluded elections represent the first national vote since the dramatic 2024 uprising that forced Hasina from office amid massive street protests. Preliminary indications suggest a dominant performance by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), though final official tallies were still being compiled late on February 13.
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