An investigation committee appointed by the interim government concluded that Bangladesh’s past three Jatiya Sangsad elections in 2014, 2018, and 2024 were not isolated events but parts of a single long-term strategy designed to keep Awami League in power.
‘These three elections represent the forced death of democracy in Bangladesh,’ the investigation report said, warning that the country’s democratic and constitutional institutions had been weakened under state sponsorship, with democracy gradually giving way to authoritarianism.
In its report, submitted on Monday to chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus, the committee said that the three elections formed parts of a master plan conceived after the 2008 general elections and institutionalised through the abolition of the caretaker government system in 2011.
The report mentioned that the master plan was devised by then prime minister Sheikh Hasina, her defence adviser Tarique Ahmed Siddiqui, and her political adviser HT Imam.
The implementation of the plan, it said, was carried out by the then election commissions, civil administration, police forces, and sections of the intelligence agencies.
The committee, titled the ‘Investigation and Recommendation Committee on Allegations Concerning the Last Three National Parliamentary Elections and Measures to Ensure Free and Fair Polls in Future,’ was chaired by former High Court Division judge Justice Shamim Hasnaien.
According to the report, the groundwork for the three controversial elections was laid in 2011 following a disputed verdict by then chief justice ABM Khairul Haque, which declared the caretaker government system unconstitutional.
Subsequently, on June 30, 2011, the Jatiya Sangsad passed the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing the caretaker administration system that had overseen elections since 1996.
The report found that this constitutional change paved the way for one-sided and engineered elections, culminating in the 10th, 11th and 12th Jatiya Sangsad polls held in 2014, 2018 and 2024 respectively.
‘The strategy was designed to ensure the continued rule of the incumbent party through administrative control, the politicisation of institutions, and the manipulation of the electoral process,’ the committee chief Shamim Hasnaien said at a press briefing outside the state guest house Jamuna on Monday.
He said that each of the three elections, attracted widespread domestic and international criticisms and together constituted a shameful chapter in Bangladesh’s electoral history.
The polls were carried out at a heavy public cost, severely undermining citizens’ voting rights, the committee chief said.
Detailing the 2014 election, the report highlighted that the polls were marked by non-participation, widespread violence, and uncontested seats.
A total of 153 candidates – more than half of the JS seats – were elected unopposed.
International observers, including the US Department of State and the Commonwealth, documented serious irregularities, restrictions on campaigning, and problems in vote counting.
In contrast, the 2018 election followed a different approach. Rather than going for an outright boycott, opposition parties were encouraged to take part -- only to face a systematic suppression, the report said.
It said that opposition leaders and activists were targeted with fictitious cases and mass arrests while the judiciary became a silent participant in the strategy by routinely denying bail.
The 2024 election, held amid another major opposition boycott, relied on dummy candidates to create an illusion of competition.
According to findings cited by the European Union Election Expert Mission, the polls involved electoral manipulation and tactics aimed at ensuring victory for the ruling party.
The investigation also sharply criticised the role of the Election Commission, concluding that it had effectively become a pocket organisation of the government.
Appointments to the commission were made through non-transparent processes, the report said, selecting individuals who acted as servants of the government rather than guardians of the constitution.
The civil administration and the police were similarly co-opted through a mechanism of incentives, including promotions and financial rewards, allowing the state machinery to take control of the electoral mechanism.
The committee said that its conclusions were based on extensive research, including question-answer method applied to officials from the National Security Intelligence, the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence, election officials, and other stakeholders.
It alleged that those responsible for conducting the elections violated the constitutional obligation to govern the state through genuinely elected representatives.
As a result, the rule of law, democratic norms and fundamental human rights were placed at serious risks.
To illustrate its findings, the report likened the process to a rigged football match in which the referee, linesmen, and even stadium security were aligned with one specific team.
In 2014, it said, the opponents refused to play but the match proceeded regardless, in 2018 the opponents were allowed on the pitch only to be obstructed at every move, and in 2024 substitute players were dressed as rivals to create an appearance of competition.
The committee put forward 40 specific recommendations aimed at far-reaching systemic reform.
It said that the Election Commission must be fundamentally restructured to restore public confidence.
The report recommended a fresh and transparent process for appointing election commissioners, alongside clear accountability mechanisms to prevent the body from operating as a puppet of the bureaucracy.
To curb electoral manipulation, it also called for investigations into the activities of intelligence agencies, recommending greater transparency and oversight to ensure that they did not interfere in the electoral process.
Among other key proposals, the report urged an end to partisan appointments to the Election Commission, warned against using public funds to recruit election observers, and called for an investigation into the 2008 election amid strong suspicions of widespread irregularities.
