Bangladesh election commission bars Sheikh Hasina and family from voting in 2025 polls
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Bangladesh’s Election Commission (EC) has blocked the national identity cards of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, effectively preventing her from casting her vote in the general elections scheduled for February 2025.
“Anyone whose national identity (NID) card has been locked cannot vote from abroad. Her (Hasina’s) NID is locked,” EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed told reporters on Wednesday at Nirbachon Bhavan in Dhaka.
Though Ahmed did not confirm other names, reports by UNB news agency and the Dhaka Tribune said the NIDs of Hasina’s younger sister Sheikh Rehana, son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, and daughter Saima Wazed Putul have also been blocked.
The ban reportedly extends to Rehana’s children — Tulip Rizwana Siddiq, Azmina Siddiq, and Radwan Mujib Siddiq Bobby — along with Hasina’s brother-in-law and former security adviser, retired Major General Tarique Ahmed Siddique, his wife Shahin Siddique, and their daughter Bushra Siddique.
Ahmed clarified that citizens who left the country for various reasons could still vote if their NID cards remained active.
Hasina’s government was overthrown on August 5, 2024, after a student-led uprising forced her to flee to India. Following the unrest, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was appointed Chief Adviser of the interim government. Awami League activities were suspended, and Hasina, along with senior party leaders, was placed under trial.
The former prime minister is being tried in absentia at Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal. Prosecutors have demanded the death penalty for her alleged involvement in atrocities during the July 2024 uprising.
Most senior Awami League leaders remain in exile or underground after mobs targeted their properties. Among those attacked was the 32 Dhanmondi residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh’s founding leader and Hasina’s father.