In a fiery denunciation, ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has dismissed the 13th national parliamentary elections as a sham orchestrated by an illegitimate regime. Addressing the nation through Awami League’s social media channels, she thanked the populace—especially women and minorities—for boycotting the flawed process en masse.
Led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus’s interim administration, the February 12 polls faced immediate backlash for excluding major opposition like Awami League, turning it into what Hasina labeled a ‘voterless charade’ that trampled democratic norms and constitutional sanctity. Chaos reigned from the outset: armed takeovers of booths, shootings, rampant bribery, fake stamping of votes, and forced agent endorsements.
Voter apathy was stark. Polling stations nationwide, particularly in Dhaka, saw zero turnout in several spots by midday. Official figures revealed a mere 14.96% participation after three-and-a-half hours, a damning indictment of public repudiation. Hasina pointed to systematic pre-poll persecution—attacks, detentions, and threats against her party’s faithful and vulnerable communities—to suppress votes.
Undeeterred by terror, citizens shunned the polls, exposing the farce. Voter roll manipulations in urban areas added to the skepticism. The Awami League has vowed not to accept this outcome, demanding annulment, the ouster of the ‘fascist Yunus government,’ liberation of detained politicians, educators, media figures, and thinkers, dismissal of sham prosecutions, unbanning of their operations, and inclusive elections supervised by an impartial caretaker authority.
As Bangladesh grapples with this electoral controversy, Hasina’s words echo a broader call for genuine representation, challenging the interim powers to heed the silent majority’s verdict.