Sajeeb Wazed Joy, son of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, has admitted for the first time that the parliamentary elections held in 2018 and 2024 were controversial.
He made the admission during a press conference in the United States, where Hasina also joined virtually to reiterate her intention to return to Bangladesh, although she did not specify any month, day, or time for her return.
The press conference was organised by the Centre for USA-Bangladesh Relations on Monday night [Bangladesh time] at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.
Joy was physically present at the event, while Sheikh Hasina, president of Awami League, who is currently staying in New Delhi, joined virtually via audio midway through the session.
Hasina fled to India on 5 August 2024, following a student-led mass uprising and deadly anti-government protests.
Although no representatives from influential US media outlets attended the press conference, a correspondent from the international news agency AFP and journalists from several Indian newspapers were present.
In her formal address, Hasina alleged that Bangladesh currently lacks democracy, human rights, freedom of speech, judicial independence, and minority rights, seeking US support to restore these rights.
She did not mention her return to Bangladesh during her formal address, but responding later to a question from an India Today journalist – who noted her earlier announcement of returning in December and asked if she feared for her life – she said she had faced attacks, imprisonment, and oppression at various times and no longer feared them.
Hasina added that she would return to the country to stand beside distressed people and persecuted Awami League workers.
During the press conference, a journalist from the media outlet Newsmax asked Joy for his opinion on allegations regarding the Awami League exerting influence, as well as the arrest and harassment of opposition figures during the 2024 election.
In response, Joy agreed with those allegations and brought up the 2018 election on his own initiative.
He said that while opinion polls ahead of the 2018 election had predicted a landslide victory for the Awami League, certain government agencies, including military intelligence, did whatever was necessary to ensure an election victory.
Joy noted that he had opposed these actions by government agencies, but they paid no heed.
Addressing a query regarding the deterioration of relations between the United States and the Awami League, Joy said several officials at the US embassy in Dhaka had created the situation by constantly providing wrong information to the US government.
At the beginning of his answer, he revealed for the first time that he is a US citizen.
Joy also spoke about the roles played by the US embassy, International Republican Institute (IRI), and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in building a movement against the Awami League government.
