Dhaka, March 6
In a change of stance, Muhammad Yunus, who leads the interim government in Bangladesh, has now stated that former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's party Awami League has to take the decision on whether it will contest the elections, whenever they take place eventually.
"They (the Awami League) have to decide if they want to do it, I cannot decide for them. The election commission decides who participates in the election," Yunus was quoted as saying by the local media in an interview given to the British public service broadcaster.
The unceremonious exit of former PM Hasina last August was seen globally as a major setback to the democratic set-up in the country.
The Election Commission of Bangladesh said last month that it is preparing to hold the national elections anytime between December 2025 to June 2026.
"If reforms can be done as quickly as we wish, then December would be the time that we would hold elections. If you have a longer version of reforms, then we may need a few more months," Yunus told the British Broadcasting Service.
The violence that has taken place in Bangladesh since Yunus took over, especially against the minorities, including Hindus, has not only dealt a blow to its fragile democracy but also undermined the potential of it being a secular state.
The interim government has also received massive criticism for providing shelter to radical and extremist Islamic outfits.
However, since US President Donald Trump's return to the White House in January, the Yunus government is treading cautiously when it comes to democratic and electoral reforms.
Last October, in an interview given to the Financial Times, Yunus had commented that Awami League has "no place" in Bangladesh's politics.
In February, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir stated that it is up to the people of Bangladesh to decide whether the Awami League should be banned or barred from the upcoming national election.
The United Nations has also recommended the interim government in Bangladesh against banning any political party for the sake of a multiparty democracy.
"Refrain from political party bans that would undermine a return to a genuine multiparty democracy and effectively disenfranchise a large part of the Bangladeshi electorate," said a fact-finding report published by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
- IANS