Bangladesh has canceled the registration of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s political party, preventing it from running in the next national election.
“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 said.
Two days earlier, the interim Cabinet banned all activities of the party under Bangladesh’s Anti-Terrorism Act until a trial for the Awami League and its leaders finishes.
Dhaka said it outlawed all activities “including any kind of publication, media, online and social media“ as well as ”any kind of campaign, procession, meeting, gathering (or) conference until the trial of the leaders and activists ... is completed,” with that ruling effective immediately.
Separately, the Election Commission said it would not allow the party to contest the next election.
Under electoral laws in the South Asian state, parties must be registered with the commission to participate in national elections.
The Awami League is one of two major parties in the country, with the other being the Bangladesh National Party.
Awami League leader Hasina is the daughter of the man who led Bangladesh to independence from Pakistan in 1971, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
She fled the country in August 2024 and has since been living in exile in India along with several other senior party members.
They have been accused of killing protesters during an uprising against her decade-and-a-half rule that swept the country last summer.
The demonstrations originally began as a protest against the imposition of quotas for government jobs.
Hasina’s government set a quota saying 30 percent of government jobs had to be filled by relatives of veterans of the country’s war of independence in 1971.
The Awami League has been under severe pressure since Hasina was kicked out, with protesters attacking and torching many of its properties, including its headquarters in the capital.
The party accuses the interim government of sponsoring mobs to attack the homes and businesses of their activists and leaders, and states that thousands of its supporters have been arrested across the country.
He has said the next election will likely be held in either December this year or June next year, and that he has no interest in running for office himself.
Yunus, 84, became a Nobel laureate in 2006 for his work on setting up the Grameen Bank, which was founded in 1983 and offered millions of dollars in micro-credit loans to Bangladesh’s poorest citizens.
Bangladesh is home to 170 million people, and although its garment sector is booming, there are large numbers of unemployed university students, who have led the protests.
The country has a long history of political unrest, including several assassinations and coup d'etats since it won independence from Pakistan in the 1970s.
