Making of a despot: How Hasina became all powerful
Her own actions to grab all powers of the state since her return to power 15 years ago eroded away the very pillars of legitimacy she so much craved, causing her ignominious downfall on that fateful day of 5 August
Everyone is trying to find a scapegoat. Some say it is the US that actually took its revenge on Hasina by secretly organising the student movement that led to a mass uprising. Some would like to point to the Jamaat-BNP conspiracy. Others say the Pakistan intelligence ISI was involved.
Unfortunately, these people are all blind to the fact that Sheikh Hasina had transformed into a dictator in the last 15 years. Her elections were a sham — she held three since coming to power. People were disenfranchised, which ultimately made her regime bereft of any moral and legitimate authority to rule.
Those who try to harp on the unfounded idea that she was dislodged from power because she, like a national hero, refused to give the Saint's Martin's Island off the coast to the US to be used as a naval base, are still living in a fool's paradise. They do not realise that when the people are repressed, when their right to expression is snubbed in the most fascistic way, when inequality skyrockets with a certain group getting a free rein to rob the country, when every economic figure is fabricated with the aim to paint a glorious picture of the country, a higher per capita income than India for example, or an extraordinary growth figure that is devoid of any reality, or a gung-ho journey to get out of LDC status or become a middle-income country, the facade of unprecedented development and progress can only last so long.
Dictators love numbers — they like to be the most powerful ruler, an upward tick in competitiveness, or a Guinness Book of World Record distinction for organising the biggest national anthem ensemble — and Hasina loved and encouraged her minions to fabricate them all.
In the end, she got herself completely disassociated from the people of Bangladesh and the ground reality. Surrounded by her myriads of willing and unwilling sycophants, she could not feel the seething discontent and the aspirations of the people.
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The ultimate result, her fall through a mass upsurge the likes of which were never before seen in Bangladesh.
Her own actions to grab all powers of the state since her return to power 15 years ago eroded away the very pillars of legitimacy she so much craved, causing her ignominious downfall on that fateful day of 5 August.
Hasina's "charter of change"
In front of the public, Sheikh Hasina appeared with many praiseworthy promises of change before the December 2008 parliamentary election to build a new Bangladesh.
Making parliament effective, an independent judiciary, zero tolerance towards corruption and culture of habitual loan defaulters, inculcating tolerance instead of the confrontational culture of politics, depoliticisation of police and civil administration and many more were in her election manifesto as she named it a "charter of change."
But her collapse as an authoritarian ruler after 15 years raises the question: Did she keep another "charter of change" up her sleeves which would appear gradually to achieve everything opposite to her 2008 electoral pledges.
The fall of "STAR"
After being accused of extorting about Tk3 crore from a company in return for allowing it to build a power station in her first term in office in between 1996-2001, Hasina was arrested and ended up in jail in July 2007 — first time after the ouster of the autocratic regime of Ershad in 1990.
Stepping out of jail after over 11 months, she started preparing for the ballots. Overcoming the uncertainty that gripped her political career during the emergency regime (2007– 08), she rebounded with a landslide victory in the polls which was the biggest win of AL under her leadership.
But a different story started unfolding.
Hasina was sworn in as prime minister in January 2009 for the second term since her return to Bangladesh from exile in May 1981 to lead AL.
She, then, sprang surprises as she named her 31-member team which would deliver on her election pledges, dropping almost her party's entire policymaking body — the praesidium — from the cabinet.
AL stalwarts such as Suranjit Sengupta, Tofail Ahmed, Amir Hossain Amu, Abdur Razzaq — known as STAR in the party — Abdul Jalil, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim — all were elected MPs and praesidium members — were left out. She picked Dipu Moni as foreign minister and advocate Sahara Khatun as home minister.
Formation of her new cabinet leaving all big guns was termed by many as "revolutionary."
More surprises would unfold in the AL national council in July the same year.
Hasina empowered herself in an extraordinary manoeuvre to pick members to form the party's praesidium and central working committee and chose all other office bearers.
The council which was supposed to elect all committees and office bearers in line with the party's constitution changed before the 2008 election in accordance with the electoral laws.
Like other parties, the AL too had to include in its charter the provision for election at all levels of its committees to get registered as a parliamentary party with the Election Commission to contest the polls. Hasina and Syed Ashraful Islam were elected unopposed as president and general secretary. But the council was denied the voting right to elect members to form the praesidium and the central working committee — two highest policy and decision making bodies of AL.
Empowered by the council Hasina now axed her party stalwarts such as Suranjit Sengupta, Tofail Ahmed, Amir Hossain Amu, Abdur Razzaq — known as STAR in the party — from the praesidium. She picked new faces who would be blindly loyal to her leadership.
The so-called STAR group was criticised for their move to reform the party during the period of the emergency government led by Fakhruddin Ahmed to ensure intra-party democracy. They did not move to discard Hasina from AL the way BNP leaders Saifur Rahman, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan among others had wanted to go forward without Khaleda Zia under alleged pressure from the government at that time. They formed a new committee of the BNP axing Khaleda Zia.
Jalil, then general secretary of Awami League, even after release from prison before the December election, was not allowed to resume in his post and later he was asked to resign. What did he do wrong? Presumably, the statement, signed by Jalil when he was in prison and sent to the media which criticised Hasina for the way she led the party, was his downfall.
Repetition of the same old formula
Hasina applied her same favourite formula in every triennial council of the party since then and picked a team that would remain loyal to her. As the AL showed the way by holding the first council after the electoral reforms in July 2009, BNP and some others also emulated the party in power.
In nominating candidates for the parliamentary polls, she exercised absolute powers ignoring the electoral law — the Representation of the People's Order — which asked every party registered with the EC as a parliamentary party to nominate candidates from panels to be sent by the party's grassroots level committees in every parliamentary constituency. Hasina did not follow the provision.
Other parties that joined the past elections followed suit of AL-led by Hasina.
The Election Commission all along remained silent as mere bystanders.
In the formation of her cabinet after winning three stage managed elections in 2014, 2018 and 2024, she also applied the same formula: Accept her leadership in the government without question or else.
Thus she established absolute control over the party and the cabinet — both forums for debates and discussions on policies were made dysfunctional.
Parliament under her thumb
When the parliament was formed after the December 2008 election, it was expected that the new parliament would be made functionally effective. But things went wrong. The Parliament failed to become a place for debates and discussions on major issues and thus hold the cabinet led by Hasina accountable for each action of her government.
First, the Article 70 of the constitution appeared to be a blessing for her to rein in MPs. According to a High Court verdict, the provision has made lawmakers "prisoners of party" that nominated him/her in the election.
MPs don't have any freedom in the House but to follow Hasina's decision on any issue and to vote for laws placed by her government. In April 2011, joining a meeting of the special parliamentary body on constitutional amendment as the AL chief, she advocated for the retention of article 70.
A provision of the Rules of Procedure of the Jatiya Sangsad empowered her to have her dominance over the parliamentary business by becoming the leader of the House. The rules of procedure have another option for the prime minister to nominate a senior minister of her cabinet to be the leader of the House.
In her consecutive four terms since 2009, Hasina never chose the second part which offers an alternative. Being the leader of the House, she had control over the functions of the Speaker who needed to discuss with her to allocate business for the parliament's sittings.
She always picked the option that benefited her personally and gave her more power.
When she used the Supreme Court verdict to abolish the nonpartisan election time government, Hasina chose the part of the verdict that paved the way for her to stay in power during the general elections.
She ignored the other part of the verdict that allowed two more parliamentary elections to be held under a nonpartisan caretaker government that ensured free and fair elections in 1991, 1996 (June), 2001 and 2008.
Being the leader of the House, she herself foiled a move by the parliamentary bodies' chiefs in February 2011 to have a law empowering the committee system.
The constitution in Article 76(3) speaks for enactment of a law empowering the House bodies to summon any person or document, and making such a person's appearance and submission of such documents mandatory.
But Hasina opposed the move saying the committee system had already been strengthened.
Hasina's another surprise was picking Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury as the Speaker to replace Abdul Hamid who was elected as the president after the death of Zillur Rahman in 2013. Shirin became the youngest, only 46, and first woman Speaker.
Shirin was elected as MP to the reserved seat for women in the parliament and made state minister for women and children affairs. The reason for Hasina picking her was that her father Late Rafiqullah Chaudhury served as a secretary to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1972.
Even though she was born in Noakhali, she got an electoral constituency in the northern district of Rangpur after the January 2014 one-sided parliamentary election. Hasina had vacated the seat. On 28 January, Shirin was elected uncontested in the by-election and the same day was nominated by the AL for Speaker in the 10th parliament formed through the stage-managed election.
Shirin was elected MP on AL tickets from the same constituency in two more stage-managed elections in 2018 and 2024 and elected Speaker again in both parliaments on Hasina's choice.
She returned Hasina's favour. Being the presiding officer of the House, her loyalty to Hasina was beyond question. She did not bother to put the party before the house. In numerous public programmes, she was seen praising the development narrative of the Hasina government.
What about other institutions?
Excessive politicisation of police by her regime turned it into a partisan force to crush street agitation against the Hasina government and helped her manage three one-sided elections. The judiciary had been tamed through the control over appointments, promotions and postings and also allegedly abused by her government against the opposition parties and for gagging dissent.
Other statutory bodies such as the Anti-Corruption Commission and the Human Rights Commission were kept in the deep fridge by appointing people loyal to the Hasina regime. Freedom of the press was brutally muzzled through various measures, including cyber security laws.
Hasina emerged as an all-powerful and unquestionable leader of Bangladesh. But her regime was tainted by rampant corruption, extrajudicial killings and violation of human rights. People were denied freedom and liberty.
Last but not least
Yet, Hasina had a fear of an extra-constitutional takeover of power by the armed forces as had happened twice in the past. Her government therefore incorporated stringent provisions in the constitution when it was amended in 2011, abolishing the non-partisan caretaker government.
In the amended constitution, the extra-constitutional takeover in exercise of force has been considered as treason and death penalty is the only punishment for committing the crime.
But Hasina could not foresee that democratic deficiency, denying people's freedom and liberty could one day appear to be the biggest cause of her humiliating downfall, forcing her to flee the country in short notice, 45 minutes to be exact, in an unprecedented popular uprising.
