‘No Boat, No Vote’: Awami League's Arafat Leads Boycott Call For ‘Illegal’ Bangladesh Polls

Last Updated:January 23, 2026, 23:05 IST

The former minister in Sheikh Hasina's government  stated that the polls are a sham because the country’s largest political bloc has been 'forcefully banned'

Arafat denounced the upcoming polls as an 'illegal exercise' conducted under the shadow of an 'illegal government'. File pic/AFP

In a significant move that deepens the political polarisation in Bangladesh, Mohammad A Arafat, a prominent leader of the Awami League and former Minister of State for Information, has issued a categorical call for a nationwide boycott of the general elections scheduled for February 12.

Speaking via video link on Friday at a high-profile media briefing hosted by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club (FCC) of South Asia in New Delhi, Arafat denounced the upcoming polls as an “illegal exercise" conducted under the shadow of an “illegal government".

Arafat, who has emerged as a key voice for the Awami League’s leadership in exile, was emphatic in his rejection of the electoral process overseen by the interim administration of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus. He argued that the exclusion of the Awami League—which led the nation’s independence struggle in 1971—renders any subsequent mandate void.

Arafat stated that the election process is a sham because the country’s largest political bloc has been “forcefully banned" from participating. He asserted that a democratic exercise cannot exist when the principal opposition is legally and physically suppressed.

He called upon every Awami League supporter, party worker, and the broader Bangladeshi electorate to stay away from the polling booths. “The only way to protest this fascist exclusion is to boycott the elections entirely," Arafat noted, framing the boycott as a moral and political necessity.

He reiterated the party’s stance that the Yunus-led administration lacks a constitutional basis, describing it as a “puppet regime" that has failed to protect the democratic rights of the people.

The briefing also featured a defiant audio address from the ousted Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina. Characterising her current status as “democracy in exile", Hasina echoed Arafat’s sentiments, launching a blistering attack on the interim government. She alleged that a “murderous, fascist clique" had taken control of the motherland, leading to widespread anarchy and the targeted persecution of religious minorities.

Other senior members of the erstwhile cabinet, including former Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud and Education Minister Mohibul Chowdhury Nowfel, were also present, either in person or via video. They supported Arafat’s call, suggesting that an “arranged election" without the Awami League would fail to bring stability or international credibility to Bangladesh.

The Awami League’s boycott call introduces a major variable into the February 12 elections. By urging a “No Boat, No Vote" policy (referencing the party’s traditional symbol), the leadership aims to undermine voter turnout and delegitimise the eventual victors. As the campaign period officially begins, the international community remains watchful of whether a vote held amidst such a total boycott can truly pave the way for a return to constitutional normalcy in Dhaka.

News world ‘No Boat, No Vote’: Awami League's Arafat Leads Boycott Call For ‘Illegal’ Bangladesh Polls

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