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Bangladesh polls 'well-planned farce', low turnout shows rejection: Sheikh Hasina
Hasina said the poll, conducted without the participation of the Awami League, failed to uphold democratic norms, voting rights, and constitutional principles.
Former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday issued a statement through the Bangladesh Awami League thanking citizens for what she described as rejecting a “so-called election” organised under the leadership of Muhammad Yunus, while alleging widespread irregularities and low voter participation.
Hasina criticised the poll, saying it failed to uphold democratic norms and constitutional principles.
“Today’s so-called election by Yunus, who seized power illegally and unconstitutionally, was essentially a well-planned farce,” reads the statement shared on Bangladesh Awami League's X handle.
“The people’s voting rights, democratic values, and the spirit of the Constitution were completely disregarded in this deceptive, voter-less election conducted without the Awami League.”
The statement alleged that the process was marred by incidents including “seizure of polling centers, gunfire, vote-buying, distribution of money, [and] stamping of ballots” beginning on the evening of February 11. Hasina further claimed that by the morning of February 12, “voter turnout was negligible in most polling centers nationwide,” with some centres reporting no voters.
Citing figures attributed to the Election Commission, the Awami League said turnout stood at 14.96% by 11 a.m. — around three and a half hours after voting began. “This extremely low turnout clearly shows that the Awami League–free election was widely rejected by the people,” the statement added.
Hasina also alleged that Awami League supporters and minority communities faced “continuous attacks, arrests, intimidation, and fear” in the days preceding the vote. The statement raised concerns over “abnormal increases in voter numbers,” particularly in Dhaka, calling the matter “highly suspicious.”
The Awami League demanded cancellation of the election, Yunus’s resignation, the release of political prisoners, withdrawal of what it described as false cases, revocation of restrictions on party activities, and the holding of “free, fair, and inclusive elections under a neutral caretaker government.”
