The interim government will decide on banning Awami League and its allies after discussing the matter with different political parties and stakeholders.
Before that, the current government will create barriers to deter these parties from participating in politics, Mahfuj Alam, the chief adviser’s special assistant, said at a press conference at the Foreign Service Academy on Saturday, after the political parties’ dialogues with the chief adviser ended at Jamuna.
Most of the political parties that participated in the dialogue on that day demanded elections soon after completing reforms. Some parties have suggested giving importance only to electoral reforms. A number of groups have also demanded to ban Awami League as a political party.
Mahfuj said, “The chief adviser said very soon a search commission will be formed to appoint the EC (Election Commission) according to the rules. More discussions will be held on deciding when and how the election will be held and the voter list will be reorganised.”
Election commissioners elected through the search committee will work to update the voter list, he said.
All the political parties participating in the dialogue on Saturday demanded to take steps to control the commodity prices. Several parties have demanded improvement of the law and order situation, trial of Awami League leaders, and removal of Awami League allies from the administration. Along with increasing the number of members in the advisory council, some have suggested reviewing the advisory council by evaluating the work of the current advisers.
Mahfuj said the chief adviser has assured the parties that the commodity prices, law and order situation, and garments sector are returning to normal. The government has made progress with regard to commodity prices and advisory council members are playing a role in this.
The chief adviser’s special assistant also said the political parties talked about Awami League’s politics, and the trial process for its financial crimes and genocide. They also sought the interim government’s opinion on the 14-party alliance members, who sat in the Ganabhaban at the end of July, strengthened the Awami League and helped it to commit genocide.
Mahfuj said the political parties proposed banning Awami League and their allies. There were also talks about ways of limiting their political activities. Some have also expressed opinions on the process of declaring the last three parliaments invalid. A party spoke about holding a “Ganoparishad Nirbachon (Constitutional Assembly elections)”.
He said, “The government’s position is clear against those who were illegally elected in the last three parliamentary elections. The interim government must create barriers to their political participation. You will see how this barrier is actually implemented. It has legal aspects, it has administrative aspects, as you will soon see. These issues will become clear when the election process begins.”
Responding to a question about banning Awami League, Mahfuj said, “There are many parties such as Jatiya Party which we have not called yet. They gave silent support and participated in illegal elections. The government is still reviewing issues related to them.
“They were friends of fascism and agreed on and stood in the field supporting the genocide. The interim government has made it clear to the political parties that it has taken a direct stand against it. The same opinion has been expressed by the political parties.”
Asked how Awami League leaders escaped, Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam said, “We are investigating how they managed to escape. But one thing is clear: there was no government from 5 to 8 August. The police were on strike for almost a week. As a result, in many cases, we heard that they were running away, and the police had to catch them, but there was a gap in this regard. Our maximum effort was to arrest them. We are still trying to arrest those who are in Bangladesh and were involved in the genocide.”
When asked about the investigation on those who helped Sheikh Hasina to escape after she resigned from the post of prime minister, the press secretary said, “There was no government at that time. But overall we are investigating.”
Gono Forum wants election only after reforms
The Gono Forum has demanded that the government hold elections soon after its reform commissions complete their tasks.
After meeting the chief adviser, Gono Forum’s Coordination Committee Chairman Mostafa Mohsin Montu said, “A free and fair election commission should be formed. A search committee or something like that should be formed and good people should be appointed for this purpose, so that problems like the old ones do not arise again.”
Asked whether there was a discussion on the election roadmap, Montu said, “We have not mentioned any date. We demanded holding elections soon after completing reforms.
“If reforms are not completed, everything will be the same as before. Before the election we are Ram, and after it we become Ravana. We don’t want that kind of election commission. We want the Election Commission for a free and fair election.”
Mizanur Rahman, member secretary of the Gono Forum Coordinating Committee, said they made recommendations regarding several issues including the election system, controlling the commodity prices, restoring law and order, and reforming an independent Election Commission, which the government took positively.
He said the Gono Forum will give written recommendations to the reform commissions through the Chief Adviser’s Office.
Montu said Dr Kamal Hossain talked to the chief adviser about the constitution, judiciary, law and order.
He also said billions of taka that were laundered from the country should be brought back. The country’s economy is in crisis. Everyone has to work together to overcome it. It is not any particular party’s intention. This work should be advanced based on a national consensus.
LDP demands to ban Awami League
The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has demanded that the Awami League be banned as a political party for the massacre it committed during the student movement.
After the dialogue, LDP Chairman Colonel (retd) Oli Ahmed said, “18 crore people fought against Awami League in July-August. They used the administration including the police unfairly, confronted the people, pushed the country towards destruction, made it corrupt, and killed thousands of our boys and girls.”
“After Jamaat-e-Islami opposed the Liberation War in 1971, we banned them. So, why will the Awami League not be banned today?”
The LDP presented a 23-point proposal to the chief adviser for ensuring a free and fair election, good administration, ensuring justice and benefiting those who are suffering due to rising prices of goods.
NDM thinks polls possible around June 2025
After meeting the chief adviser, National Democratic Movement (NDM) Chairman Bobby Hajjaj said, “We said during the dialogue that we believe that it is possible to hold the elections in June 2025 or immediately after that, and they need to think about it. They have assured us that they will continue to negotiate with us.”
He also said, “After the six reform commissions submit their reports, the chief adviser will hold another dialogue with us. He will want our opinion about whether this government or an elected government will implement the reform measures proposed by the commissions. After discussing with us, they will fix the election date and try to announce the election roadmap before that.”
Bobby Hajjaj demanded to pay special attention to the people who were injured and martyred in the mass uprising, bring Awami League’s allies to proper trial, withdraw the cases filed against the opposition political leaders during the Awami League period, expand the advisory council and appoint advisers from among businessmen, doctors and police retirees.
Andaleeve for launching action against Awami League
Bangladesh Jatiya Party Chairman Andaleeve Rahman Partha said no action is being taken against Awami League and the 14-party alliance. Banning or not banning them is not important – a measure must be taken regarding their activities. If a political party not only supports genocide, but also asks the law enforcers to get tougher on people, it loses its right to do politics.
“Whether Awami League will be banned by executive order or by an order from the High Court is another matter but that process should start,” he said.
“I told them not to undertake any reforms that should be undertaken by a democratic government. Their reforms would be better if those were electoral reforms. There may be other proposals, which the next government can implement.”
Partha also requested the chief adviser to bring back the money that was laundered out of the country during the Awami League regime.
12-party alliance for uprooting fascist’s allies
Following the meeting with Prof Yunus, head of the 12-party alliance and Jatiya Party Chairman Mostafa Jamal Haider said, “We have asked to remove the ghosts of the fascist government who are still in the administration.”
He said, “Due to the increase in commodity prices, we have talked about taking measures to sell essential goods from trucks stationed at important cities including Dhaka. It is necessary to take this step immediately even if the government has to supply products at subsidised rates.”
Shahadat Hossain Salim, the spokesperson of the 12-party alliance, said, “The scope of the advisory council should be widened, the law and order forces should be brought under control and good governance should be established.”
Moreover they talked about abolishing the union parishads and uprooting the dictatorship from the grassroot level.
The 12-party alliance submitted a 14-point written proposal to the chief adviser.
