Can a party that has been active in politics for so many years and has governed the country for a long time, simply be erased through legislation? Voters themselves might have rejected the Awami League in an election. In fact, immediately after August 2024, the political atmosphere suggested that possibility. But by delaying elections for a year and a half through various excuses, the interim government has allowed the Awami League to regain much of its political vitality. How long can the party be contained through police measures alone?

Now let us turn to another issue. Does Awami League genuinely want to return to politics? Judging by its behaviour, that does not seem to be the case. The party’s president, Sheikh Hasina, appears to regard herself as the owner of the party. Countless party leaders and activists view her as a saviour, a messiah. They believe the party has no future without her. The cult of personality and dynasty devotion has reached such a level that they cannot even imagine an Awami League without Hasina. Hasina knows this well. It was she who cultivated this mindset within the party.

From time to time, people speak of a “refined Awami League.” Various names circulate as potential leaders. The problem is that Sheikh Hasina will not relinquish the party presidency. She understands perfectly well that this position is the source of her power. Once she gives it up, she has little concern for what happens to the party. But she also knows that if she loses the post, she herself will have nowhere left to stand politically. That is why, if Awami League returns, it will try to return with Hasina at its center.

Under the current circumstances, however, that appears impossible.
Sheikh Hasina is a convicted defendant facing the death penalty. The notion that she would willingly return to face execution is pure fantasy. Everyone knows that she values herself and her family more than the country or the party. If she had not anticipated the need to leave the country, how was she able to arrange for her family members and relatives to go abroad beforehand? Such devotion to one’s relatives will remain an example for years to come. The only relative who stayed behind and was caught was Amir Hossain Amu. Having once aligned himself with the so-called “reformists,” he had fallen out of Hasina’s favour. Many party leaders and activists also remained behind, people for whom the Awami League is almost a religion.