New Delhi: The Muhammad Yunus-led interim government in Bangladesh is set to bar ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed’s Awami League from political participation. The Awami League and other like-minded parties will have barriers—legal and administrative—levied on their involvement in political activities, Mahfuj Alam, student activist and special assistant to chief adviser Yunus, told journalists in Dhaka Sunday, The Daily Star has reported.
“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,” declared Alam.
According to the report by Bangladesh’s largest circulated daily, in a dialogue between 10 political parties and Yunus, the parties demanded a ban over participation by the Awami League and its allies in the much anticipated national elections. It is to be noted that members of 14 parties, considered to be allies of the League, were not part of these discussions or any conversation about the upcoming elections.
About banning the party from elections, Alam said, “The government will not take the decision unilaterally,” and that a unanimous decision will be taken after consulting with different political parties. Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jamaat-e-Islami—both arch rivals of the League had said ‘no’ to banning Hasina’s party in an interview with the Press Trust of India last month.
“Unlike Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League, we don’t believe in the politics of banning a political party to settle scores. We want the Awami League to contest elections, and we will defeat them through the electoral process,” said BNP secretary-general Mirza Fakrul Islam Alamgir.
On 1 September, the High Court in Dhaka had rejected a writ petition that sought a ban on the Awami League and cancellation of its registration for “killing of students” and others during the mass uprising against the prime minister. On 17 October, the International Crimes Tribunal issued arrest warrants against Hasina and 45 of her party members for alleged crimes against humanity during the uprising.
Yunus going the Hasina way?
Yunus took over as chief adviser to the interim government on 8 August with the aim to bring the country to normalcy post-crisis, promising to restore trust in the government, and the independence of the judiciary.
With this step towards restricting the Awami League’s political activity, the interim government is likely following the footsteps of Hasina herself, who was considered notorious for suppressing opposition. In power since 2009, Hasina’s tenure was marked by imprisonment of Opposition leaders, dispersion of political protestors with tear gas and questionable election practices.
Khaleda Zia, the only other female prime minister of the country, had accused Hasina of vote rigging in 2014 and 2018. Her conviction in 2018 barred her from contesting elections in 2019.
In 2013, Jamaat-e-Islami was banned from participating in elections after a court ruled that its religious charter was inconsistent with Bangladesh’s secular constitution.
The Awami League held power for three consecutive terms with Hasina as prime minister until she was ousted by protests in August this year. The party, formed in 1949, was an important force in striving for the country’s independence and separation from West Pakistan in 1971. It has governed Bangladesh for over 28 years in the country’s 53 years of independence.
Since Yunus’s widely hailed oath-taking on 8 August, the interim government has with time found itself surrounded by controversies. Two major concerns that have emerged are the conduct of elections and the rewriting of history.
BNP’s senior joint secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, while addressing a rally in Bera upazila of Pabna, criticised the interim government for not providing any clear timeline on the schedule for elections. The Yunus-led administration has, however, held that elections will be conducted soon. The government will soon form a search committee to appoint a new chief election commissioner and other election commissioners, Mahfuj Alam announced in Dhaka Sunday.
Yunus’s recent remark on how the country needs a “reset” in his interview to the Voice of America had gathered eyeballs, after which his office had to release a statement. “When you press the reset button, you reset the software to start all over again. It doesn’t change the hardware. The 1971 Liberation War created the hardware of Bangladesh,” the statement said.
The interim government has cancelled all national holidays related to Hasina’s father and ‘father of the nation’ Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Awami League has accused the Yunus-led government of deliberately erasing the memories of the Liberation War.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
The Bangladesh interim government lead by Yunus will bar many political parties from contesting elections. Is this how Bangladesh work towards democracy? How is it different from Hasina government? It seems Bangladesh is well on Pakistan’s way.