Bangladesh court restores caretaker system but not before elections
Bangladesh is returning to a caretaker system first introduced in 1996 to ensure fair elections, but not before the upcoming election in February. Nonetheless Attorney General Mohammed Asaduzzaman called the ruling the beginning of "journey on a truly democratic highway.”
Dhaka (AP/dpa) - Bangladesh’s Supreme Court restored a nonpartisan caretaker government system for national elections but said it won't apply to the polls being held early next year.
The ruling specifies a phased implementation, said Attorney General Mohammad Asaduzzaman, meaning the system will not yet be applied to the upcoming election scheduled for February, to be held under the incumbent administration led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.
Yunus took office in August 2024 as head of an interim administration, after former prime minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted amid widespread protests and fled to neighbouring India.
On Monday, Hasina was sentenced to death in absentia for crimes committed during the violent suppression of last year's student-led mass uprising that toppled her government and ended her 15-year rule.
Return to an attempt at fair elections
The caretaker system was introduced in 1996 and widely accepted by Bangladesh's people and by international observers as a step toward election fairness in Bangladesh, whose elections have often been marred by allegations of manipulation and vote rigging. In two subsequent elections, two retired chief justices formed nonpartisan governments that held the elections within 90 days and transferred power to the winners. The election in 2008 was held under a former central bank governor.
But political disputes led to the system being scrapped at the court's suggestion in 2011 under then- Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, whose opponents said she aimed to manipulate future elections. Her administration oversaw national elections in 2014, 2018 and 2024 that kept Hasina in power and were not considered credible.
"Journey on a truly democratic highway"
On Thursday, the seven-member court ruled unanimously on two appeals and four petitions for review of its 2011 verdict.
The court said the system would be restored for the 14th national election since Bangladesh won independence from Pakistan in 1971. But it will not apply to the 13th post-independence vote, which will be overseen by the interim government headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus.
Attorney General Mohammed Asaduzzaman expressed satisfaction at the return of the caretaker system. “The caretaker government system has been declared supportive of Bangladesh’s democracy, and this may be elaborated in the full judgment of the court," he told reporters after Thursday’s decision. “We believe Bangladesh has now begun its journey on a truly democratic highway.”