Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has strongly protested against the ban on her party, Awami League, from participating in the February 2026 elections in Bangladesh.

Currently living in exile in India, she has said that elections without the Awami League would be nothing more than a ‘coronation’, not a real one.

‘Elections without the Awami League are not elections, they are nothing more than a coronation. The head of the interim government, Muhammad Yunus, is ruling without the people’s vote and there are attempts to ban the party that was elected nine times by popular mandate,’ said Hasina, who was ousted from the government after a student-led nationwide uprising in Bangladesh nearly a year ago. She reminded that the Bangladeshi people tend not to vote at all if they are not allowed to vote for their preferred party, adding, ‘If this ban continues, millions of citizens will be effectively disenfranchised. A government formed through such a process has no moral right to govern.’ She also warned that the Yunus government would pay a serious price for banning her party from participating in the elections at a time when national reconciliation is needed.

As the preparations for the elections are underway, there have been reports of violent protests and continued attacks on the minority Hindu community. Referring to the violence that erupted after the death of Sharif Osman Hadi, the leader of the Inquilab Moncho, Hasina has placed full responsibility for it on the interim government. “Hadi’s killing is a symbol of growing dissatisfaction with the current administration,” she said. “Violence has become commonplace and the government has failed to control it. It has weakened not only the country but also its relations with its neighbors and international credibility.”

The first national elections are being held since the uprising that ousted Hasina in August 2024. Since then, an interim administration led by Nobel laureate Yunus has been running the country.