In a dramatic reversal of position, Muhammad Yunus, the chairman of Bangladesh's interim government, has now asserted that the question of whether the party of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the Awami League, will participate in the elections is totally up to them.
"They (the Awami League) will have to make that decision; I am not in a position to decide on their behalf. It is the Election Commission which decides who takes part in the elections," Yunus said in an interview with a British public service broadcaster, local media reported.
Hasina's sudden ouster from office last August was seen widely as a huge setback to Bangladesh's democratic process on the international front.
Bangladesh's Election Commission last month announced that preparations were being made to hold national elections between December 2025 and June 2026.
"If we want reforms at the speed we want, we plan to have an election in December. But if a longer reform process is needed, more time would be required," Yunus said during an interview with the British Broadcasting Service.
Ever since Yunus took over, the nation has seen an escalation of violence, most notably against minorities, such as Hindus. The unrest has only added to the weakening of Bangladesh's already weakened democracy and undermined its secular nature.
The interim government has also been criticized for allegedly giving asylum to radical and extremist Islamic groups.
Yet, since the return of US President Donald Trump to the White House in January, the Yunus-led government seems to be holding back on democratic and electoral reforms.
Significantly, in a Financial Times interview last October, Yunus had stated that the Awami League had "no place" in Bangladesh's politics.
In February, Secretary General of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said that the Awami League should be kept out of the elections if the people of Bangladesh wanted to.
The United Nations too has urged Bangladesh's interim government not to ban any political party, citing the need to keep a multiparty democratic system in place.
"Avoid banning political parties, as the practice would hold back the reinstatement of genuine multiparty democracy and practically disenfranchise much of the Bangladeshi electorate," according to a fact-finding mission report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
Read also| 27-Year-Old Telangana Student Shot Dead in US in Suspected Robbery
Read also| China Signals Possible Defense Budget Increase, Stresses Peace Through Strength
