'I want to go home but not under an illegitimate govt': Sheikh Hasina
Exiled former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has warned that millions of Bangladeshis will boycott next year’s national election after her party, the Awami League, was barred from contesting, calling the decision “unjust and self-defeating.”
Speaking to Reuters via email from New Delhi, Hasina, 78, said she has no plans to return home under any government formed after what she described as a “one-sided election.”
“The next government must have electoral legitimacy,” she said. “Millions of people support the Awami League. You cannot disenfranchise millions of people if you want a political system that works.”
Hasina in exile, interim govt led by Yunus
Hasina fled to India in August 2024, following a deadly student-led uprising that toppled her 15-year rule.
Since then, an interim administration headed by Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus has governed Bangladesh and pledged to hold elections in February 2026.
In May, the Election Commission suspended the Awami League’s registration, while the Yunus-led government banned all political activities, citing national security concerns and ongoing war crimes probes into senior party members.
With more than 126 million registered voters, Bangladesh’s political landscape has long been dominated by the Awami League and its rival, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)- the latter now seen as the frontrunner in the upcoming polls.
‘I will not return under an illegitimate government’
Hasina said she intends to remain in India for now, living a quiet life in exile but under discreet security.
She was last seen in Delhi’s Lodhi Garden, where witnesses described her walking calmly with two aides.
“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 told Reuters.
Despite her exile, Hasina expressed optimism that the Awami League would eventually return to the political mainstream, even without her leadership.
“It’s really not about me or my family,” she said. “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.”
Her son Sajeeb Wazed, based in Washington, has previously said he might consider leading the party “if asked.”
Hasina stopped short of confirming whether any back-channel talks were underway to reinstate the Awami League’s electoral rights, but said she hoped “common sense would prevail.”
“We are not asking Awami League voters to support other parties,” she said. “We still hope we will be allowed to contest the election ourselves.”
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