Calling the election a âsham,â former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stated that it was conducted without the participation of her party, the Awami League, and without genuine voter involvement.
In her first remarks following the conclusion of the polls, Hasina demanded that the âvoterless, unlawful, and unconstitutionalâ election be annulled. The vote marked Bangladeshâs first national election since the widespread protests in 2024 that led to the fall of her government.
Describing the process as âfraudulent,â she argued that the election was organized in the absence of her party and lacked real public engagement. According to her, voter turnout was extremely low, and many polling centres in Dhaka and other regions were nearly deserted.
Citing figures from the Election Commission, she noted that participation had reached only 14.96 percent by 11 a.m., roughly three and a half hours after voting began. She claimed this limited turnout during peak voting hours demonstrated that citizens had effectively boycotted the election due to the Awami Leagueâs exclusion.
Hasina further accused interim government head Muhammad Yunus of undermining democratic principles, constitutional norms, and citizensâ voting rights.
She also alleged that from the evening of February 11, the electoral process was manipulated through the takeover of polling stations, incidents of gunfire, widespread vote-buying, pre-marked ballots, and the forced collection of polling agentsâ signatures on result documents.
