On August 20, for only the second time in our history, parliamentarians will have the opportunity to elect the president of the republic. If the ruling party sticks to its decision not to allow its MPs to vote freely, however, the entire exercise is poised to be anything but an election. It could instead be described as the beginning of the new president’s coronation. Like the first presidential vote 35 years ago, this one too follows another pro-democracy uprising. The first uprising forced out the military dictator, General HM Ershad; the second overthrew the civilian but increasingly dictatorial regime of Sheikh Hasina. In between these upheavals, we had seven presidential elections, all won unopposed by nominees of the then ruling parties. Interestingly, in both post-uprising parliaments, BNP would play a decisive role in determining the country’s democratic future. The second mass uprising, known as the July Uprising, was, in many ways, a very different political upheaval. It ...
The August 5, 2026 media interaction at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club South Asia (FCC South Asia) in Delhi by ousted Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina appears to have triggered a full-scale diplomatic spat between Bangladesh and India. It was her second such event hosted at the same venue by the same media group within seven months. The differences between the January 23 and August 5 events, however, are remarkably stark, not only in their substance but also in their fallout. Both events were organised after Hasina was found guilty of crimes against humanity by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) and sentenced to death. On January 23, the FCC only delivered an audio message from Hasina. On August 5, however, both she and her son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, took questions from the media. The first event took place while the interim government led by Professor Muhammad Yunus was in office, ahead of the February 12 national election. The second was held on the very day Bangladesh was ...