'Awami League Supporters Will Boycott': Sheikh Hasina On Bangladesh Polls Next Year

Last Updated:October 29, 2025, 17:45 IST

Former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted from power in wake of massive anti-government protests last year, said "millions of people" support her party Awami League

Former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina fled her country with her sister Sheikh Rehana to neighbouring India on August 5, 2024. (Image: Reuters/File)

Ousted from power in August last year after massive anti-government protests that turned violent, former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina has warned that Awami League supporters will boycott the upcoming national elections in February 2026.

Sheikh Hasina, who fled Bangladesh with her sister Sheikh Rehana to neighbouring India on August 5, 2024, said “millions of people" support her party, Awami League.  

Hasina said the next government that comes to power in Bangladesh must have “electoral legitimacy", but it will not be possible in the “current situation".

“The next government of Bangladesh must have electoral legitimacy. Millions of people support the Awami League. In the current situation, they will not vote. In a functioning political system, you cannot deprive millions of people of their right to vote," Hasina told Reuters in an interview from New Delhi. 

In what is her first media engagement since her dramatic fall from power after 15 consecutive years at the helm of Bangladeshi politics, she made these comments after the Awami League was barred from contesting the elections next year. She, however, said she will not be asking her supporters to back another party but expressed hope that hers will soon be allowed to contest the elections next year after its registration was cancelled by the Election Commission in May. 

The 78-year-old leader said she will not return to Bangladesh under any government formed after elections that exclude her party, and plans to remain in India. An interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has governed Bangladesh since Hasina’s ouster.

“The ban on the Awami League is not only unjust, it is self-defeating," she was quoted in emailed responses.

The Reuters report said Bangladesh has more than 126 million registered voters. The Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) have long dominated the country’s politics, and the latter is widely expected to win the polls. 

‘NOT ABOUT ME OR MY FAMILY’

Hasina said the Awami League will eventually return to play a role in Bangladesh’s future – whether in government or opposition – and that her family need not lead it.

Her son and adviser, Sajeeb Wazed, who lives in Washington, told Reuters last year he might consider leading the party if asked.

“It’s really not about me or my family," she was quoted. “For Bangladesh to achieve the future we all want, there must be a return to constitutional rule and political stability. No single person or family defines our country’s future."

The leader, however, has no plans to return to her country yet. She faces charges of crimes against humanity over the violent crackdown on the student protests that ultimately led to her downfall. While a verdict is expected on November 13, she has repeatedly denied the charges, saying she was not personally involved.

“I would of course love to go home, so long as the government there was legitimate, the constitution was being upheld, and law and order genuinely prevailed," she said.

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