‘Election Without Awami League Is A Coronation’, Says Sheikh Hasina After Party Barred From Bangladesh Feb Polls | World News

As Bangladesh prepares to hold national elections nearly a year after Sheikh Hasina’s government was ousted following a student-led uprising in July, the former prime minister said an election without his party would be a coronation, not an election, as the Awami League is barred from participating in the upcoming elections.

Hasina said, “An election without Awami League is not an election, but a coronation. Yunus is ruling the country without a single vote of the people of Bangladesh and now he is looking for ways to ban the party that has been elected nine times on the instructions of the people.”

“Historically, when Bangladeshis cannot vote for their preferred party, they do not vote at all. So millions will be effectively disenfranchised if this ban on the Awami League continues. Any government that emerges from such an exercise will lack the moral authority to govern. This would be a terrible missed opportunity at a time when Bangladesh badly needs a process of genuine national reconciliation,” he added.

Bangladesh will hold its elections in February 2026 at a time when political tensions are high. As the elections approached, violence intensified across the country, with reports of violent protests and attacks on Hindu minorities.

As Bangladesh struggles to maintain normalcy after days of violent unrest following the death of Inqilab Moncho leader Osman Hadi last week, Hasina placed the blame for the violence squarely on the interim government led by Muhammad Younis.

Hasina said Osman Hadi’s killing reflects increasing lawlessness under the current administration. “This tragic murder reflects the lawlessness that devastated my government and proliferated under Yunus. Violence has become the norm, with the interim government either refusing to do so or lacking the power to stop it. Such incidents destabilize internal Bangladesh, but also destabilize our relations with our neighbors who watch with righteous alarm. India sees the chaos, the persecution of minorities and the erosion of everything we have built together. When you fail to maintain basic order within your borders, your credibility on the international stage collapses. This is Yunus’ Bangladesh “It is the truth,” he said.

Meanwhile, the February 2026 elections will be the first national election since the student uprising that toppled Sheikh Hasina in August 2024. Since then, Bangladesh has been governed by an interim administration headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.

In addition to the parliamentary elections, a national referendum on the “July Regulation” will also be held on the same day. The proposed regulation aims to carry out major reforms in state institutions, including restricting executive powers and strengthening the independence of the judiciary. Voting for all 300 seats in parliament will take place simultaneously.

The main contest in the upcoming elections will be between former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami. The newly formed National Citizen Party (NCP), which emerged from the student movement that led the uprising against Hasina, is also expected to participate in the elections.