The Bangladesh Awami League chief and exiled former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has strongly condemned the parliamentary elections and concurrent constitutional referendum held on 12 February as a “sham,” “farce,” and “industrial-scale” manipulation of votes, alleging widespread fraud under the interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.
In a statement issued by the former PM titled “Sham Election – A Farce”, Hasina described the process as a “disgraceful chapter” in Bangladesh’s democratic history. She claimed that despite empty polling stations and low visible turnout, the Election Commission reported implausibly high vote counts, particularly a sharp surge between 11 a.m. and noon.
She said that this election will go down as a disgraceful chapter in the country’s democratic history. Sheikh Hasina claimed that the percentage of votes reported in successive briefings by the Election Commission presented highly inconsistent and unrealistic patterns.
She noted that EC had noted 14.96% voter turnout by 11 AM (19,105,684 votes), which jumped to 32.88% by noon, adding 22,880,350 votes in one hour, averaging roughly 381,339 votes per minute. It reached 47.91% by 2 PM, and finally 59.44% by the end of voting at 4.30 PM. Hasina argued that compared to the average voting rate of the first three and a half hours, this represents an implausible several-fold increase in later half of the day.
She said historically, voting is higher in morning hours, but this time it was the lowest till 11 AM, with only 14.96% votes caste in first three and a half hours. The next two hours saw 15.03% votes, and the last two and an half hours saw 11.53% votes.
The former PM further said that “total vote count provided by the Election Commission is inconsistent with the actual conditions observed across the country—such as empty polling stations, inactive booths, and absent voters.” She claimed that nearly 60% overall voter turnout is not only unrealistic but borders on the absurd.
Hasina also accused the interim administration of using state resources to promote a “Yes” vote in the referendum on constitutional reforms, the July Charter. “The use of tick marks beside “Yes” and cross marks beside “No” on the ballot papers represents a blatant attempt to influence voter psychology and control citizens’ choices,” she alleged.
She added the delayed release of referendum results, nearly five hours after parliamentary results, have fuelled suspicions of electoral fraud.
She also made allegations of pre-stamped ballots, polling center seizures, vote-buying, voter intimidation, fake voting, and irregularities in counting, with some presiding officers reportedly signing result sheets before voting began.
Hasina contrasted this year’s elections with past actions by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), noting that they had voluntary boycotted two elections, and claiming that BNP had resorted to arson and widespread destruction, causing the deaths of countless people. “. In contrast, the Awami League did not boycott the election. Instead, it was forcibly kept out of the election through unlawful bans,” she added.
The former PM said that Awami League “urged the people to peacefully boycott this one-sided election,” and that people responded to the call and refrained from voting, which forced “Yunus’s illegal government to artificially inflate vote counts through manipulation.”
Sheikh Hasina made several demands in the statement. She has demanded the annulment of the “voterless, illegal, and unconstitutional” election, “resignation of the killer-fascist Yunus”, withdrawal of false cases and the release of all political prisoners, including teachers, journalists, intellectuals, and other professionals, The lifting of restrictions imposed on Awami League activities, and Restoration of the people’s voting rights through a free, fair, and fully participatory election under a neutral caretaker government
The February 12 polls was held after the ouster of Hasina’s long-ruling Awami League government by the student-led uprising in July 2024. The Awami League was barred from contesting, and Hasina remains in exile in India.
Official Election Commission data reported a 59.44% turnout for the combined parliamentary election and referendum, with the referendum passing with around 60% approving the July Charter reforms. The BNP, led by Tarique Rahman, secured a landslide victory, winning a strong majority of seats and ensuring that Rahman will be the next prime minister.
