Bangladesh court reinstates non-party caretaker system for holding general elections

By SM Najmus Sakib

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) - Bangladesh's High Court on Tuesday overturned constitutional changes passed by parliament in 2011 during the government of ousted Prime Minister Hasina Wajid, restoring the non-party caretaker setup to hold elections.

The two-member bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury announced the verdict in a petition declaring two articles of the constitution's 15th Amendment invalid. The decision nullified the national election held under partisan administration.

On Aug. 18, Badiul Alam Majumdar, an official of local NGO Shushasoner Jonno Nagorik (SUJAN), filed a writ petition to annul the 15th Amendment, which was later joined by four more people. Several political organizations, including the Bangladesh National Party, Gono Forum, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, and individuals, joined the petition.

The court observed that the constitutional amendment had destroyed the caretaker government system for general elections and the basic structure of democracy.

The court also reinstated the referendum provision as well as the clause for introducing constitutional amendments.

The court has delegated the responsibility for determining the remaining provisions to the next national parliament.

According to the ruling, the parliament can amend, modify, and change the provisions based on the opinion of the people under the law, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami lawyer Shishir Monir told the media following the verdict.

The 15th Amendment was passed in the national parliament in 2011 during the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government.

Hasina fled India on Aug. 5 in a student-led uprising. After she fled and the Muhammad Yunus-led transitional government took office on Aug. 5, Majumdar filed the writ petition, challenging the 15th Amendment.

Majumdar, also head of the Electoral Reforms Commission, also expressed satisfaction with the verdict while talking to the media.

“This verdict has opened an important door for the return of the democratic system. I think this is a historic verdict. It is a seminal judgment,” he further added.

The caretaker system was introduced in 1996.

After it was scrapped in 2011, opposition political parties boycotted national elections in 2014 and 2024, demanding a neutral election-time government and accusing Hasina's partisan government of rigging the vote and influencing the general elections in the country.

However, the Awami League claimed that they had amended the constitution to prevent the rise of unconstitutional entities to power.