New Delhi: Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said on Wednesday that millions of supporters of the Awami League will boycott next year’s national elections after her party was barred from contesting the polls. Speaking from exile in New Delhi, Hasina, 78, declared she would not return to Bangladesh under any government formed after elections that exclude her party. Hasina fled to India in August 2024 following a deadly student-led uprising that toppled her 15-year rule. Since then, an interim government led by Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus has governed Bangladesh and pledged to hold general elections in February next year.

“The ban on the Awami League is not only unjust, it is self-defeating,” Hasina said in emailed responses to Reuters — her first media engagement since her ouster. “The next government must have electoral legitimacy. Millions of people support the Awami League, so as things stand, they will not vote. You cannot disenfranchise millions of people if you want a political system that works.” Bangladesh has over 126 million registered voters. The Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) have long dominated the country’s politics, with the BNP widely expected to win the upcoming polls.

The Election Commission suspended the Awami League’s registration in May, after the Yunus-led government banned all political party activities, citing national security threats and ongoing war crimes investigations against senior Awami League leaders. “We are not asking Awami League voters to support other parties,” Hasina said. “We still hope common sense will prevail and we will be allowed to contest the election.” Hasina did not confirm whether she or her associates were holding back-channel negotiations with Bangladeshi authorities to restore the party’s electoral rights. Spokespersons for the interim government headed by Muhammad Yunus did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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