Yunus warns of attempts to derail Bangladesh elections

Muhammad Yunus, the head of Bangladesh’s interim government, on Wednesday (October 29) expressed apprehension that forces “from home and abroad” will try to thwart the upcoming general elections in Bangladesh over the ban imposed on deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League from contesting.

“Many forces from inside and outside the country will work to spoil the election. Many powerful forces, not minor ones, will attempt to thwart it. Sudden attacks may come,” Yunus’s press secretary Shafiqul Alam quoted him as saying at a high-level meeting on election preparedness.

‘Challenging elections’, says Yunus

Alam also said that Yunus, during the meeting, termed the elections as “challenging” as “various types of propaganda will be carried out in a planned manner from inside and outside the country.”

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The Chief Advisor to Bangladesh’s interim government said that AI-generated images and videos would also circulate online and on social media platforms, stressing immediate action to prevent the spread of such content. “We must overcome them (obstacles),” he added.

Hasina demands free polls

Yunus’ remarks came as Hasina, in an interview with foreign news agencies and the UK-based newspaper The Independent on the same day, said that the next government must have electoral legitimacy.

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“Only free, fair, and inclusive elections can heal the country,” she told the Independent newspaper of the UK.

“Millions of people support the Awami League, so as things stand, they will not vote. You cannot disenfranchise millions of people if you want a political system that works,” she said, rejecting any government formed without her party’s participation in the voting.

Hasina slams ban on Awami League

According to a Reuters report, Hasina slammed the ban on the Awami League as not only “unjust” but also as “self-defeating”.

"The next government must have electoral legitimacy. Millions of people support the Awami League, so as things stand, they will not vote. You cannot disenfranchise millions of people if you want a political system that works,” she added.

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Since her ouster, 78-year-old Hasina has been staying in India while most of the leaders of her party and government were in jail or on the run at home and abroad.

Three days after her ouster, Yunus flew in from Paris to take charge of the interim government, saying the students were his appointees.

BNP seen as frontrunner

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of former premier Khaleda Zia is seen as the frontrunner in Awami League’s absence.

Several Awami League supporters in recent months have staged sudden or flash street marches in the capital to make visible their presence.

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Police in the past several months have arrested several hundred activists of the “banned party” for staging the marches. On Wednesday, five of its junior leaders were arrested overnight on charges of bringing out sudden processions in different parts of the capital.

The backdrop

The Yunus administration subsequently disbanded the Awami League activities under an executive order citing national security threats, charging Hasina and several party leaders with trial in Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal in absentia.

The Election Commission suspended the Awami League's registration, disqualifying the party from contesting polls, while in her interviews on Wednesday, Hasina said, "millions of party supporters will boycott the election."

(With agency inputs)