Transparency International Bangladesh executive director Iftekharuzzaman on Tuesday said that the Awami League could not expect to return to meaningful political participation without admitting its mistakes and expressing remorse.

Responding to a journalist’s question at a briefing on the release of the TI Corruption Perceptions Index report 2025, Iftekharuzzaman questioned the narrative of ‘inclusive elections’, adding that the AL had already chosen a clear position to stay outside the electoral process.

‘The party has openly declared an anti-election  position. If a party boycotts an election on its own, how can it then be included?’

He also challenged the claims that Bangladesh lacked inclusive elections only now, asking why such concerns were not strongly raised over the past 16 years.

‘When we talk about inclusive elections today, we must ask what we did in the past 16 years,’ he said.

‘How many institutions or individuals had the courage to say at those times that elections were not inclusive?,’ he asked.

Iftekharuzzaman alleged that while the AL was officially boycotting the polls it was still influencing the electoral environment indirectly. ‘They are trying to obstruct the election by ways of violence and instability,’ he observed.

‘This is happening through their supporters, agents at home and abroad, and in some cases with encouragement from sheltering countries.’

He further claimed that many AL voters had already cast their votes while in jail, raising questions about the party’s real stance on electoral participation.

At the grassroots level, he said, AL leaders and activists are not contesting elections under the party banner but are instead joining or campaigning for other political parties.

Iftekharuzzaman stressed that no one else could restore the AL’s political legitimacy except the party itself.

‘If the AL wants to re-establish itself politically, it must take responsibility for its actions,’ he said. ‘The current situation of the party is primarily the result of decisions taken by its own leadership.’

He added that public acceptance was still possible if the party showed accountability.

‘If they accept responsibility, express remorse, and say “we were wrong”, I think the people of this country will accept them,’ he said. ‘But whether they would choose to do that or not is entirely up to them.’