Leaderless and lost: Awami League faces its darkest hour as it struggles post Hasina’s exit

Dhaka: A dominant force in Bangladesh politics since leading the Liberation War in 1971, the Awami League now faces an unprecedented crisis of a leadership vacuum, political obscurity marked by internal turmoil, and widespread public discontent that threatens its future.

Some members term this as a crisis similar to the one that the party faced after the assassination of founder Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975.

The catalyst for the current catastrophe was the dramatic ousting of Sheikh Hasina, the five-time Prime Minister and leader of the Awami League (AL) since 1981, who fled to India on August 5 following a protracted protest, mainly by students, over quotas in government jobs.

Hasina’s decision to flee rather than face the crisis has been criticised by party insiders as a betrayal, leaving many of her closest allies feeling abandoned and disillusioned.

“Our supreme leader should not have left us, leaving the entire party in the lurch. Had she been here, the situation would have been different. In case, she had been arrested, we could have said that our leader had not fled,” Badruzamman, a local-level leader from the Mirpur area, said.

He lamented that Hasina’s advisers were the root cause of all problems. “The advisers Sheikh Hasina had were all useless. They brought her down. She too only liked sycophants and did not listen to the ground reality,” he said.

A senior Awami League leader, who is into hiding, told PTI over the phone: “The party is in a crisis of unprecedented magnitude. Our very existence is in crisis. Even if the elections are held in Bangladesh, we might not be able to contest the polls.” Hasina's abrupt downfall amid a massive anti-government movement has left a leadership vacuum and most other leaders have fled, or gone into hiding, or are in jail.

“The party is in complete disarray after August 5. There is no one left in the country who can lead the party. Sheikh Hasina’s fleeing the country has further worsened the situation. We don’t know what lies ahead,” an AL supporter, who did not wish to be named, said.

Party’s offices across the country that used to bustle with supporters and activists, now wear a deserted look after being ransacked by mob fury even as 95 per cent of the offices remained locked up.

Party’s second-in-command Obaidul Quader – who too is on the run after the August 5 uprising, just like other senior leaders – has been implicated in orchestrating violent crackdowns on protesters, leaving the party without a clear successor.

Other potential leaders within the Awami League, such as Assauduzamman Khan Jamal and Hasan Mahmud, were detained while attempting to flee the country. They have either been implicated in the recent turmoil or gone into hiding to escape the backlash, with many facing legal challenges and public ire.

“The party, after the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975, faced a similar crisis. But then several leaders were still active and able to engage in political activities. This time, the situation is worse,” he said.

The Hasina-led party in the 2008 elections, largely considered as the last free and fair elections in Bangladesh, had secured 48 per cent of the votes, with the principal opposition BNP securing 32 per cent.

During its days in opposition from 1991 to 1996 and then from 2001 to 2006, the Awami League had consistently garnered 35-40 per cent of the popular vote.

“She initially insisted on using greater force to suppress the protests. When the situation became unmanageable, she decided to step down and flee the country. This abrupt exit is an undignified likely end to her long political innings, and it has left the Awami League in disarray,” said 75-year-old Asif Hasan Pintu, whose family has been Awami League supporters since Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s time. Bangabir Kader Siddique, president of the Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Janata League drew attention to how Awami League's reliance on dynastic politics has created a challenging situation.

“After Sheikh Mujib’s death, the concentration of control of the party went into the hands of his family. This has spelt disaster for the present-day Awami League,” Siddique, who fought in the Bangladesh Liberation War 1971, said.

He was a loyalist of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and had walked out of the party in early 2000s over differences with Hasina to form his own political outfit.

“The Awami League of Bangabandhu, which was the party of the poor and brought independence to Bangladesh, is not the same as Sheikh Hasina's Awami League,” he said.