The Bangladesh Awami League (Bengali: বাংলাদেশ আওয়ামী লীগ, lit. 'Bangladesh People's League'), simply known as Awami League (Bengali:[awɐmiliːg]), is one of the major political parties in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, the party played the leading role in achieving the independence of Bangladesh. It is also one of the two most dominant parties in the country, along with its archrival Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
After the emergence of independent Bangladesh, Awami League under the leadership of Sheikh Mujib won the first general elections. The party along with most other parties of Bangladesh were merged into Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League (BaKSAL) in January 1975, where Awami League politicians played the leading role in BaKSAL. After the August 1975 coup, the party was forced by subsequent military regimes onto the political sidelines, and many of its senior leaders and activists were executed or jailed. In 1981, Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of Sheikh Mujib, became the president of the party and continued to hold the position to this date.
The party played a crucial role in the anti-authoritarian movements against the regime of Hussain Muhammad Ershad. After the restoration of democracy amidst mass uprising in 1990, the Awami League emerged as one of the principal players of Bangladeshi politics. The party formed governments winning the 1996, 2008, 2014, 2018 and 2024 general elections. Throughout its tenure as the ruling party from 2009 to 2024 under Sheikh Hasina,[7] Bangladesh experienced democratic backsliding[8][9][10] and was consistently described as authoritarian,[a]dictatorial and fascist.[b] It was finally overthrown with the Student–People's uprising in August 2024. Since then, the party remained underground.
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