The Election Commission of Bangladesh (ECB) announced the suspension of the Awami League’s registration on Tuesday, May 13, practically barring the party of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina from contesting the next general elections.
The move to ban the Awami League comes a day after all the political activities of the party, its mass fronts, and associated groups were banned under the country’s anti-terrorism law through an official order issued by the interim government.
“The Ministry of Home Affairs has banned the activities of Awami League and its front, associate and brotherly organizations. In continuation of this, the Election Commission has decided to suspend the registration of [the party],” Akhtar Ahmed, senior secretary of the ECB said in a statement on Tuesday.
The interim government’s gazette notification declared that the ban on the Awami League’s activities will be effective until the completion of all ongoing trials against its leaders and activists for their involvement in crimes against humanity.
The interim government claimed the Awami League was a threat to national security and introduced new amendments in the country’s existing anti-terrorism law on Sunday to make it applicable for banning the Awami League, Prothom Alo reported.
The Awami League has been the ruling party for most of Bangladesh’s post-independence history. It was formed by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, considered the founder of the country, which achieved liberation from Pakistan after a bloody war in 1971. Before it was ousted from power in the July-August 2024 anti-quota agitations, it had won four consecutive elections under Hasina’s leadership.
The interim government, made up of student activists who led the anti-quota movement against the Hasina government, and technocrats from the camp of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, came to power in August 2024 following the resignation and self-exile of Hasina.
Awami League calls the ban illegal
In a post on Facebook earlier this week, the Awami League rejected the ban, claiming “all decisions of the illegal government are illegal.”
In another statement on Thursday, it claimed that the decision to ban the party was the result of long-standing preparations by the Mohammad Yunus-led interim government in its attempt to gain full control over the country’s political landscape. It questioned how the party can be banned when the trials initiated by the interim government are still pending in the tribunals set up by the same government.
Hasina also rejected the ban in an audio message on Wednesday, claiming her party will continue fighting for the rights of the people. She accused Yunus’ interim government of sheltering rogue elements while punishing the groups and people who have always stood for law and order and the development of Bangladesh.
Ban is a threat to democracy
The interim government has accused Hasina and several of her government colleagues of the mass murder of protesters and charged them for crimes against humanity.
According to a UN estimate, close to 1,400 people were killed when violence broke out during the anti-quota agitation.
Hundreds of leaders and workers of the Awami League and its allies have been arrested and are being tried in the International Crimes Tribunal (NCT) formed by the government.
Meanwhile, several workers and leaders of the Awami League have been attacked and killed by mobs and several party offices have been burned down. The Awami League’s student wing, Bangladesh Chhatra League, was banned in October last year for its alleged role in the violence during the anti-Quota agitations.
Hasina’s former official residence and a museum belonging to Mujibur Rahman – Hasina’s father – were also looted and demolished by a mob under the interim government’s protection in February this year.
Several allies of the Awami League, such as the left-wing Workers’ Party of Bangladesh (WPB), have also faced persecution under the interim government.
Sharif Shamshir, a leader of WPB, told Peoples Dispatch that by banning the Awami League, the interim government has confirmed that it wants to establish a fundamentalist regime in the country on the behest of international powers.
Shamsir also questioned the legality of the process through which the League was banned and claimed that “this move would sharpen the contradictions between the democratic and right wing fundamentalist forces in the country.”
