Elections ‘our internal matter’, says Yunus aide

Dhaka: Elections are entirely Bangladesh's internal matter, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus' top aide has said, adding the ban on former prime minister Sheikh Hasina's party was necessary to protect national security and sovereignty.

Yunus' Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam was reacting to concerns raised by India on the ban imposed on the activities of Hasina's Awami League. Bangladesh on Monday officially disbanded Awami League under an overnight revised anti-terrorism law.

“Elections are entirely our internal matter. We urge all to respect the sovereign will of our people in matters relating to elections,” Alam told Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS), the state-run news agency, on Tuesday.

The ban on activities of the Awami League is necessary to protect national security and sovereignty, Alam added.

India’s External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Tuesday said the ban on Awami League “without due process is a concerning development.” New Delhi also called for early holding of “free, fair and inclusive” elections in Bangladesh.

Reacting to Jaiswal’s comment, Alam said, “As for elections, we recall how the Awami League repeatedly resorted to grossly farcical elections and caused irreparable damages to our electoral processes and institutions.”

“The wounds caused by the crimes against humanity perpetrated by this party are still fresh,” Alam said, adding, “We have witnessed how Awami League completely destroyed our democratic fabric, severely squeezed our political space and compromised our sovereignty during its 15-year long tyrannical and kleptocratic rule.”

Hasina's party stands disqualified from contesting the general election, which could be held between December 2025 and June 2026.

Hasina’s 16-year-long Awami League regime was toppled on August 5 last year in a student-led violent mass uprising prompting the 77-year-old former prime minister to flee to India.

Three days after her ouster, Yunus took charge as the chief adviser of the interim government.

Formed in 1949, the Awami League led the movement for the autonomy of Bengalis in the then East Pakistan for decades and eventually led the Liberation War in 1971.

Bangladesh's action to ban Awami League on Monday came two days after Yunus’ interim government slapped a ban on its “activities” under the previous version of the law.

On Sunday night, President Mohammed Shahabuddin promulgated an ordinance amending the Anti-Terrorism Act, prohibiting any form of publicity, including press statements, social media content, or public gatherings in support of any individuals or entities tried in the act.

The interim administration said the ban on Awami League would stay in place until a special tribunal completes a trial of the party and its leaders.

Hasina and many of her party leaders have been facing 100s of cases, including that of mass murder and corruption, since then. Most of her party leaders and ministers in her government are either arrested or fled abroad.

Around 1,400 people were killed between July 15 and August 15 -- with many of them victims of retaliatory actions on Awami League supporters or policemen, according to a UN rights office report.

Hasina and most of her senior colleagues in the party and past regime were accused of committing “crimes against humanity” to gouge protestors during last year’s student-led movement through mass killing or previous crimes like enforced disappearances.