Bangladesh: Yunus govt rules out possibility of Awami League contesting Feb 2026 elections

Dhaka: Shafiqul Alam, the Press Secretary to Bangladesh’s Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus, announced on Friday that there is no possibility of the Awami League contesting the national election scheduled for February 2026, local media reported.

Addressing journalists at the July Memorial Monument in Nabaganga Park on the Magura–Dhaka Road, Alam stated that the interim government has no local or international pressure to bring the Awami League into the electoral race.

The contradictory statement followed Yunus’s recent claim that the activities of the Awami League are suspended for the time being and could be resumed at any time.

Last month, in an interview with an international media outlet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Yunus said, “They [Awami League] remain valid as a party, but activities for the time being are suspended. Anytime it will be open.”

When questioned on whether he meant that Awami League’s activities could be “unsuspended”, Yunus said, “That’s a possibility”, Bangladeshi newspaper The Daily Star reported.

Since the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last August, the Yunus-led interim government has intensified its crackdown on the Awami League leaders and activists, with many imprisoned on false and fabricated charges and several also dying in custody.

Recently, local media reported that Hasina and several of her family members will be barred from voting in next year’s election as their National Identity (NID) Cards are blocked in an attempt to strip them of their political rights.

Election Commission (EC) Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed told reporters that “anyone whose NID card has been locked cannot vote from abroad. Those who fled abroad due to cases or for other reasons face no obstacle in voting, but their NID must remain unlocked.”

When asked whether Hasina will be able to vote, he said, “She cannot vote because her NID is blocked.”

Earlier in July, the EC removed the election symbol of Hasina’s Awami League party from its website in an attempt to end the party’s decades-long political existence in the country.

On May 12, the Yunus-led interim government issued a gazette notification banning all activities of the Awami League and its affiliate organisations.

The ban was imposed under the ‘Anti-Terrorism Act’ until the trial of the party and its leaders in Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) is completed.

Analysts reckon the latest developments as an extension of the political vendetta pursued by the interim government led by Yunus against former PM Hasina and her party leaders.

IANS