Latest news with #BangladeshElection
Al Jazeera
3 days ago
- General
- Al Jazeera
Bangladesh top court lifts ban on country's largest Muslim party
Bangladesh has restored the registration of the country's largest Muslim party, more than a decade after it was banned by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government. Sunday's Supreme Court decision means the Jamaat-e-Islami party can now be formally listed with the Election Commission, paving the way for its participation in the next general election, which the interim government has promised to hold by June next year. Jamaat-e-Islami lawyer Shishir Monir said the ruling would allow a 'democratic, inclusive and multiparty system' in the Muslim-majority country of 170 million people. 'We hope that Bangladeshis, regardless of their ethnicity or religious identity, will vote for Jamaat and that the parliament will be vibrant with constructive debates,' Monir told journalists. The party had appealed for a review of a 2013 high court order cancelling its registration after Hasina's government was ousted in August by a student-led nationwide uprising. Hasina, 77, fled to India and is now being tried in absentia over her crackdown last year, described by prosecutors as a 'systematic attack' on protesters, which according to the United Nations, killed up to 1,400 people. The Supreme Court decision on Jamaat-e-Islami came after it overturned a conviction against ATM Azharul Islam, one of the party's key leaders, on Tuesday. Islam was sentenced to death in 2014 for rape, murder and genocide during Bangladesh's 1971 war of independence from Pakistan. Jamaat-e-Islami supported Pakistan during the war, a role that still sparks anger among many Bangladeshis today. 'We, as individuals or as a party, are not beyond making mistakes,' Jamaat-e-Islami leader Shafiqur Rahman said after Islam's conviction was overturned without specifying what he was referring to. 'We seek your pardon if we have done anything wrong,' he said. The party's members were rivals of Hasina's father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of the Awami League, who would become Bangladesh's founding president. Hasina banned Jamaat-e-Islami during her tenure and cracked down on its leaders. In May, Bangladesh's interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, banned the Awami League, pending the outcome of legal proceedings over its crackdown on last year's mass protests.
Bloomberg
4 days ago
- General
- Bloomberg
Bangladesh Islamist Party Set For Comeback as Court Removes Ban
Bangladesh's top court has reinstated the registration of Jamaat-e-Islami, paving the way for the country's largest Islamist party to participate in the next election. The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court nullified a 2013 verdict that had revoked Jamaat's registration, Mohammad Shishir Manir, a lawyer representing Jamaat-e-Islami, told reporters in Dhaka on Sunday.
Russia Today
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Bangladesh interim govt bans former PM's party
Bangladesh's interim government has decided to ban former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League party and bar it from running in the next general election, saying it is necessary to protect national security and sovereignty, according to local media. The ban was imposed under a revised anti-terrorism law, which was introduced overnight on Monday. Shafiqul Alam, press secretary to Interim Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, defended the ban and told state-run news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) that elections in the country were an internal matter and that other countries should respect the sovereign will of the Bangladeshi people. Alam's remarks on Tuesday were aimed at neighboring India, which has backed the Awami League for years. Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had described the ban as a 'concerning development' that was imposed without due process. The Awami League, led by former Prime Minister Hasina, was ousted from power on August 5 last year in a student-led uprising. Hasina fled to India, and Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammad Yunus took charge of an interim government. Ties between the two South Asian neighbors have been tense since that time. New Delhi has repeatedly called for the early holding of free, fair and inclusive elections in Bangladesh. No date has been finalized for the next general election in Bangladesh, which could take place anytime between December 2025 and June 2026. On the sidelines of the sixth BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) Summit in Bangkok in April, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Yunus and conveyed New Delhi's desire 'to forge a positive and constructive relationship with Bangladesh based on pragmatism.' He highlighted, however, that 'rhetoric that vitiates the environment is best avoided.' At the meeting with Modi, Yunus broached the issue of extraditing the former prime minister. The interim government has been seeking the extradition of Hasina and members of her government to face trial on charges including murder, torture, abduction, crimes against humanity, and genocide. New Delhi has not publicly commented on the request.
CNN
14-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's party barred from election
Bangladesh's Election Commission has cancelled the registration of the former ruling party of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, preventing it from participating in the next national election, which is expected to be held by June next year. The decision on Monday came hours after the country's interim government headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus issued an official notification banning the Awami League party and its affiliated bodies from conducting activities online and elsewhere. Monday's formal notification from the Ministry of Home Affairs was issued two days after the interim Cabinet decided to ban all activities of the party under the country's Anti-Terrorism Act until a special tribunal concludes a trial for the party and its leaders. In the notification, the government 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.' It said the decision was effective immediately. Separately, the Election Commission said Monday it would not allow the Hasina-led party to contest the next election. Political parties must be registered with the Election Commission to take part in elections. A government adviser said Monday that anyone who posts comments online in support of the Awami League party would face arrest. On Sunday, the Awami League accused the interim government of 'stoking division' and trampling on 'democratic norms' by banning its activities. It said in a statement that the ban 'stoked division within society, strangled democratic norms, fueled ongoing pogrom against dissenters and strangled inclusivity, all undemocratic steps.' The Awami League is one of two major parties in Bangladesh, which has a fractious parliamentary democracy with a violent history of coups and political assassination. Hasina, the daughter of Bangladesh's independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, fled the country on Aug. 5 last year and has been in exile in India since then along with many senior party colleagues and former Cabinet minsters and lawmakers. They have been accused of killing protesters during an uprising against Hasina's 15-year rule in July-August last year. The United Nations human rights office said in a report in February that up to 1,400 people may have been killed during three weeks of anti-Hasina protests. But the Office of the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights recommended in a report to 'refrain from political party bans that would undermine a return to a genuine multi-party democracy and effectively disenfranchise a large part of the Bangladeshi electorate.' The Awami League, which led a nine-month war against Pakistan for independence in 1971, has been under severe pressure since Hasina's ouster. Protesters have attacked and torched many of its offices including its headquarters in Dhaka. It accuses the interim government of sponsoring mobs to attack the homes and businesses of their activists and leaders. It said thousands of its supporters have been arrested across the country and that many have been killed. Yunus has said the next election will likely be held either in December or in June next year.
The Independent
13-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Ousted Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina's party barred from contesting elections
Bangladesh 's election commission has suspended the registration of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina 's party, effectively blocking the Awami League from contesting polls. The move comes days after the interim government of Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus banned all activities of the former ruling party, citing national security threats and a war crimes investigation into hundreds of deaths during the agitation that toppled Ms Hasina last year. The former prime minister, who fled to neighbouring India after her rule collapsed, remains in exile. She is wanted in over 100 cases related to the killings of the 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,' the federal body's secretary, Akhtar Ahmed, announced on Monday. Asif Nazrul, law affairs adviser to the interim administration, said earlier on Saturday they had decided to ban Awami League's activities online and elsewhere under the antiterrorism law. 'This decision is aimed at ensuring national security and sovereignty, protection of activists of the July movement and plaintiffs and witnesses involved in the tribunal proceedings,' he said. The Awami League, which ruled Bangladesh for over 20 years until Ms Hasina's ouster, is now barred from contesting elections. This means there's now a comprehensive ban on all forms of activities of the Awami League and its affiliates, including publications, media appearances, online and social media campaigns, processions, meetings, rallies, and conferences. The restrictions will stay in place until the International Crimes Tribunal concludes ongoing proceedings against the party's leaders and activists. After her ouster, Ms Hasina and several top Awami League leaders were charged with murder. The dramatic decision to ban the Awami League followed mass protests in the capital Dhaka on Saturday where thousands of people, including backers of a political party formed by students who led last year's agitation, issued an ultimatum to the interim rulers to outlaw Ms Hasina's party by that night. On Monday, the interim rulers said the ban on Awami League's activities did not infringe upon the freedom of expression of any individual or political entity, according to the Dhaka Tribune. In February, the UN human rights office estimated that as many as 1,400 people could have been killed during the agitation that toppled her government. Another former prime minister, Khaleda Zia, returned to Bangladesh earlier this month after nearly four months of medical treatment in London, intensifying calls for the interim government to announce elections. Ms Zia had been jailed for several years during her rival's rule. Mr Yunus has hinted that elections may be delayed until 2026. Speaking in a national broadcast last December to mark the 53rd anniversary of Bangladesh's independence, Mr Yunus said 'election dates could be fixed by the end of 2025 or the first half of 2026'. Pressure has been mounting on Mr Yunus to set an election date for the country of nearly 170 million people. The interim leader has earlier called the task of restoring democracy in the country 'extremely tough'.
