Bangladesh Bars Ex-PM Sheikh Hasina, Family From Voting In Next Year Poll
Bangladesh's Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday said it has "locked" the national identity cards of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, effectively barring her from voting in the general elections scheduled for February next year.
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The government of Sheikh Hasina's Awami League was overthrown on August 5, 2024.
Dhaka:
Bangladesh's Election Commission (EC) announced Wednesday that it has "locked" the national identity cards of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, effectively preventing her from participating in the general elections scheduled for February next year.
"Individuals whose national identity (NID) cards have been locked cannot cast votes from overseas," EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed stated during a press briefing at his Nirbachon Bhavan office.
"Her (Hasina's) NID has been locked," he confirmed.
While Ahmed did not specify additional names, reports from UNB news agency and the Dhaka Tribune newspaper, citing anonymous EC officials, indicated that NIDs belonging to Hasina's younger sister Sheikh Rehana, son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, and daughter Saima Wazed Putul have also been "locked" or "blocked".
Others reportedly barred from voting include Rehana's children Tulip Rizwana Siddiq, Azmina Siddiq and nephew Radwan Mujib Siddiq Bobby, as well as Hasina's former security adviser retired major general Tarique Ahmed Siddique, his wife Shahin Siddique, and their daughter Bushra Siddique.
Ahmed clarified, however, that those who "fled abroad to evade justice" or for other reasons could still vote if their NID cards remain active.
The Awami League government under Hasina collapsed on August 5, 2024, after a violent student-led uprising forced her to seek refuge in India.
Following this, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus assumed the position of Chief Adviser in the interim government and suspended Awami League activities pending trials of Hasina and other senior Awami leaders on various charges, including crimes against humanity.
Hasina is currently facing trial in absentia at Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal, where prosecutors have requested the death penalty for alleged atrocities committed during the July 2024 uprising.
The majority of senior Awami League leaders remain in hiding or exile as mobs set fire to and vandalized their properties, including the 32 Dhanmondi residence of Bangladesh's founding father and Hasina's father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.