Former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal told a Dhaka court on Thursday that the 2024 general election was a “dummy” exercise, nothing more than a political farce.
“It was a mock election. There was no real political competition due to the lack of consensus among parties,” his admission came during a hearing at the court of Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Md. Mostafizur Rahman.
Ironically, Awal himself once presided over similar courts, having started his career in the judiciary as an assistant judge (munsif) in 1981 after passing the Bangladesh Civil Service exam. He was later promoted to district and sessions judge in 1996 before joining the legal division of the Ministry of Law.
When asked by the magistrate why he didn’t resign if he believed the election was a sham, Awal sidestepped the question, saying, “No Chief Election Commissioner in the past has resigned.”
In his courtroom remarks, Awal also referred to past election irregularities under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s government and the disputed February 1996 general election to suggest that flawed elections are not unprecedented in Bangladesh.
Following the hearing, the court granted a three-day remand for Awal in a case filed under Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station. He had been arrested the previous morning from the capital’s Moghbazar area. The police had requested a 10-day remand for further interrogation.
The case was filed by BNP executive committee member Salah Uddin Khan. He accused 24 individuals, including three former CECs– Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad (2014), KM Nurul Huda (2018), and Awal himself (2024)– of orchestrating a rigged election process that deprived citizens of their voting rights, most notably through night-before voting.
Earlier this week, Nurul Huda was arrested and placed on a four-day remand. On Wednesday, the court also approved a police petition to add sedition charges to the case.
Other high-profile accused include former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted during the July uprising, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, and former Inspectors General of Police Hasan Mahmud Khandker, Javed Patwary, and AKM Shahidul Hoque.