The Interim Government in Bangladesh will not allow the Awami League party to participate in the political process, said the chief adviser’s office yesterday. This means, former PM Sheikh Hasina’s party won’t be allowed to contest the elections, expected to be held next year after extensive constitutional changes.
“Those who had taken part in the last three elections and come to parliament illegally deceived the people, and the interim government will of course put obstacles to their political participation,” said Mahfuj Alam, special assistant to the chief adviser Muhammad Yunus.
The official hinted that apart from administrative orders banning AL from electoral politics, legal measures will also be taken so that the party can’t contest polls and come back to power. Alam said, “You will see how these barriers will come into effect. It has a legal aspect and it has an administrative aspect — you will see it soon. These things will become clearer when the election process starts.”
On the question of banning Awami League altogether, he said that it will be decided after discussions with different political parties, adding that the interim government will not take the decision unilaterally.
Notably, on 1st September, the Bangladesh High Court rejected a writ petition seeking its order to ban Awami League as a political party and cancel its registration. The Attorney General had opposed the petition, saying that the current government has no intention to ban any political organisation.
Notably, in August, then Home Affairs advisor M Sakhawat Hossain had ruled out banning the political party in August. He had said that the party has made many contributions to Bangladesh, and it should contest elections. Soon after his ‘pro-Awami’ comments, he was removed from the home affairs and made the adviser of textile and jute.
During a meeting with chief adviser Yunus yesterday, some parties demanded a ban on AL and its allies, or at least keeping them out of the next national election. Jatiya Party and other allies of Awami League were not invited to the meeting.
Mahfuj Alam said that AL’s allies were not invited because they provided “silent support and participated in the illegal elections”. He said, “The interim government has made it clear that those parties were allies of fascism and consented to genocide — they took a stance directly against the people. Similar views were expressed by the political parties.”
In the meanwhile, the govt is probing how Sheikh Hasina and other AL leaders fled the country on and after 5 August. Shafiqul Alam, press secretary to the chief adviser, said that there was no govt from 5 to 8 August, and the police were on strike for a week, which gave them the opportunity to leave the country.
In the meeting, the parties urged the interim govt to hold the election as soon as possible. Notably, earlier Law Adviser Asif Nazrul said the next national election could be held by the next year. The govt is going to form a new Election Commission through a search committee, after which the polls process will start, beginning with updating the voter list.
Mahfuj said regarding the elections, “The chief adviser said very soon a search commission will be formed to appoint the EC (Election Commission) according to the rules. More discussions will be held on deciding when and how the election will be held and the voter list will be reorganised.”
