Bangladesch: Jamaat-e-Islami allows the Oberster Court to participate in elections!

Bangladesch: Jamaat-e-Islami allows the Oberster Court to participate in elections!

Bangladesch - On June 1, 2025, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh rested the registration of the Jamaat-E-Islami, the country's largest Muslim party. This decision illuminates the dynamic political landscape of the country, in which the Jamaat-e-Islami had been under a ban for over a decade that was imposed by the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The restoration of the party's legal status now opened the doors for their participation in the upcoming parliamentary elections, which are to take place by June 2026. This important development is based on a judgment that the prejudice of the 2013 High Courts, which the Jamaat-E-Islami had prohibited the participation in elections for more than ten years, and was felled by a chamber chaired by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed. The election commission was encouraged to immediately restore the registration of Jamaat and to clarify open matters, including the allocation of its choice. The decision could have far -reaching effects on political dynamics in the country, especially with regard to the upcoming elections.

Mohammad Shishir Manir, a Jamaat lawyer, spoke of "recognition of multi -party democracy and inclusive elections". The years of political isolation of the Jamaat, which had assumed the Awami League led by Sheikh Hasina, has given the political discourse in Bangladesh many tensions. Hasina was dropped after massive student protests in August 2024 and fled into exile to India, where she will continue to be charged against protests because of her repression, which is said to have requested up to 1,400 human lives.

historical context of the Jamaat-e-Islami

The Jamaat-e-Islami was founded in 1941 by Sayyid Abul A’la Maududi and is considered the country's largest Islamist party. The party has experienced an eventful story that was overshadowed by accusations for war crimes during the War of Independence in 1971 because it supported Pakistan. The political rivalries between Jamaat and the Awami League are deeply rooted and can be traced back to the beginning of Bangladesh. While former leaders of Jamaat, such as Ghulam Azam, were convicted of their roles in the War of Independence, current party members such as Shafiqur Rahman are trying to have a kind of atonement for the past by asking for the party's possible mistakes.

Recent judicial decisions, including the abolition of the death sentence against Jamaat leader ATM Azharul Islam, which was convicted of rape, murder and genocide in 2014, could be interpreted as part of a more comprehensive political turn. These developments have contributed to the fact that the Jamaat-E-Islami can intervene again in political events, possibly with a view to the next elections.

In the middle of these political upheavals, the transitional government under Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus lifted the previously imposed ban of the Awami League. This was done against the background that the Awami League itself was criticized for its role in the suppression of protests that led to the dismissal of Hasina. In the context of these political new reviews, it is uncertain how the elections will develop and what role the Jamaat-e-Islami will play in the new political order.