Bangladesh’s election on Sunday will be a “sham” designed to cement Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s rule, exiled opposition leader TariqueRahman has told a foreign news agency in an interview defending his party’s boycott.
Rahman is heir to one of the country’s two main political dynasties — the other led by Hasina — and has helmed its largest opposition party since the 2018 jailing of his mother, two-time premier Khaleda Zia.
Six years ago he was convicted in absentia of masterminding a deadly grenade attack on a campaign rally for Hasina — a charge he insists is fabricated — and sentenced to life imprisonment.
His party staged a months-long protest campaign last year demanding the prime minister’s resignation that saw at least 11 people killed and thousands of its supporters arrested.
In his first interview with a major international media outlet for several years, Rahman, 56, said it would be inappropriate to have his party participate in a vote with a “predetermined” outcome.
“Bangladesh is approaching another sham election,” he told by email from London, where he has lived since 2008.
“Participating in an election under Hasina, against the aspirations of the Bangladeshi people, would undermine the sacrifices of those who fought, shed blood and gave their lives for democracy.”—INP
