Sheikh Hasina petitions UN to annul Bangladesh elections

Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has filed a petition with United Nations human rights experts seeking urgent intervention regarding the political situation in her country. The petition calls for the annulment of the February 2026 elections, which Hasina alleges were neither free, fair, nor inclusive because her political party, the Awami League, was barred from participating.

Hasina is also demanding the removal of the ban on the Awami League, a restriction initially imposed by the interim administration and later formalized by the current Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government led by Tarique Rahman. The petition argues that the continued ban disenfranchises a significant portion of the population and that seeking justice through domestic courts is currently impractical.

This legal move precedes Hasina’s planned return to Bangladesh this December and challenges the legitimacy of the Tarique Rahman administration.