DHAKA – Bangladesh’s Election Commission has suspended the registration of ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League, effectively barring the party from contesting the next national elections.
The move comes after the interim government of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus banned all activities of the Awami League under the Anti-Terrorism Act after days of protests.
The government cited national security threats and an ongoing war crimes investigation against the party’s top leadership over the deaths of hundreds of protesters.
“With the Home Ministry’s ban on all activities of the Awami League and its affiliated organisations, the Election Commission has decided to suspend the party’s registration,” Election Commission Secretary Akhtar Ahmed told reporters late on May 12.
Under Bangladesh’s electoral laws, a political party must be registered with the Election Commission to participate in national polls. The suspension means the Awami League – which led the country for more than 20 years – is now officially disqualified from contesting future elections unless the ban is lifted and the registration restored.
The Election Commission also issued a directive prohibiting the party and its affiliates from conducting any political activities, including publications, media appearances, online and social media campaigns, processions, rallies, or conferences, until the International Crimes Tribunal completes its proceedings.
Hasina, credited with turning around the economy but accused of human rights violations and the suppression of dissent, won a fourth straight term in 2024 but the poll was boycotted by the main opposition whose top leaders were in jail or in exile.
The country has seen rising tensions and protests in recent months, after deadly protests forced Hasina to flee to India in August 2024 and an interim government led by Mr Yunus took charge.
Mr Yunus, who is not aligned to any party, has pledged reforms and said national elections could be delayed until 2026 and that he is not interested in running.
Political parties, including former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party, have demanded an early poll and return to a democratically-elected government.
The newly formed student-driven National Citizen Party, which emerged from the 2024 uprising that toppled Hasina, wants polls only after reforms are implemented.
The unrest began in July with student protests against public sector job quotas, but quickly morphed into one of the deadliest periods of political violence since Bangladesh’s independence in 1971.
The Awami League, founded in 1949 and once revered for leading Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War, has faced growing criticism in recent years over alleged authoritarianism, corruption, and human rights violations under Hasina’s leadership. REUTERS
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