The Supreme Court on Thursday reinstated the long-scrapped non-party caretaker government system for overseeing national elections, only to exempt the imminent 13th parliamentary polls from its purview to allow power usurper Muhammad Yunus to stay in power.
The decision, hailed by opposition stalwarts as a democratic safeguard, drew immediate fire from exiled Awami League leader Sajeeb Wazed Joy, who decried it as a “sham judgement” designed to legitimise the interim administration of Muhammad Yunus and pave the way for a “completely rigged” vote.
The Appellate Division’s unanimous ruling, delivered by a seven-member bench led by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, overturned its own 2011 verdict that had nullified the 13th Constitutional Amendment. That amendment, enacted in 1996 amid bipartisan consensus, mandated a neutral caretaker regimeโlimited to 90 daysโto conduct “free, fair, and credible” elections, insulating the process from ruling party interference.
The court acknowledged “errors apparent on the face of the record” in the prior decision, restoring the system prospectively for the 14th national elections but affirming the current Yunus-led interim governmentโformed in the chaotic aftermath of the August 2024 uprising that toppled Sheikh Hasina’s regimeโwould helm the next polls.
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The verdict caps a year of legal wrangling triggered by the student-led revolution that forced Hasina’s flight to India and installed Nobel laureate Yunus as chief adviser on August 8, 2024. Review petitions and appeals, filed last year by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Jamaat-e-Islami, freedom fighter Mofazzal Islam, and rights groups like Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik (SHUJAN) of Yunus aide Badiul Alam Majumder, argued the caretaker mechanism had evolved into a “basic structure” of the constitution, indispensable after flawed polls in 2014, 2018, and 2024 under partisan oversight.
Petitioners, represented by senior advocates including Sharif Bhuiyan, Zainul Abedin, and Md Ruhul Quddus Kazal, highlighted self-contradictions in the 2011 ruling, which paradoxically endorsed caretaker-led elections for the 10th and 11th parliaments.
BNP leader Attorney General Md Asaduzzaman and Additional AG Aneek R Haque defended the state, but the bench’s short orderโfull details pending releaseโsignaled a rare judicial rebuke to the post-2011 status quo, where Hasina’s Awami League had cemented one-party dominance through the 15th Amendment, abolishing caretakers via a July 2011 gazette.
Sajeeb Wazed’s Fiery Rebuke
From his base in the United States, Sajeeb WazedโHasina’s son and the party’s de facto international voiceโunleashed a blistering social media broadside hours after the ruling, framing it as complicity in the Yunus regime’s “unelected, unconstitutional, and illegal” grip on power.
“Once again, it is such a sham judgment, just a rubber stamp for what this regime wants,” Wazed posted on his verified X account, amassing thousands of shares amid polarised reactions. “If there is to be a caretaker government, why not for all elections, including this one? This regime does not meet the requirements of this ruling.”
Wazed accused the interim setup of engineering a “fake election” by sidelining the Awami League and “all progressive parties,” enabling a BNP-Jamaat alliance to seize control. “They don’t want these upcoming elections held under a caretaker so they can have a fake election… These elections are going to be completely rigged,” he charged, invoking the regime’s alleged suppression: calls for killing Awami League activists, attacks on supporters, the jailing of thousands of leadersโincluding over 100 MPsโfor 18 months without due process, and lethal crackdowns by the military in Gopalganj and police shoot-to-kill orders against protesters.
His rhetoric escalated to a stark equivalence: “If this is all acceptable, then the Awami League government did absolutely nothing wrong.” Wazed’s outburst underscores the Awami League’s isolation since the uprising, with the party branded a “killer regime” by protesters and facing bans from participation in transitional reforms. Exiled loyalists, including Hasina, have repeatedly claimed the Yunus administrationโbolstered by U.S. and Western backingโis a “deep state” puppet show, delaying polls to consolidate power while auctioning national assets like Chittagong Port terminals to foreign firms.
Echoes of History
The caretaker system’s revival traces a tortuous path. Introduced in 1996 after the disputed 1991 elections, it facilitated three credible polls (1996, 2001, 2008) under neutral oversight, fostering alternation between Awami League and BNP governments. But under Hasina’s second term, a 1998 High Court writโfiled by lawyer M Salimullah (now deceased) and othersโescalated to the Appellate Division. In May 2011, a 7-2 majority led by then-Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque struck it down as a “basic structure violation,” prompting the 15th Amendment and Hasina’s unchallenged 2014 and 2018 victories, marred by opposition boycotts and violence claims.
Post-uprising, the petitions gained traction as Yunus’s interim tenure stretched beyond initial 90-day expectations, now eyeing December 2025 polls amid economic woes (GDP growth at 3-4%) and protests over port leases, delayed reforms, and dual-citizen advisors. BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir hailed the verdict as “justice restored,” while Jamaat’s Miah Golam Parwar urged immediate implementation. Rights advocate Badiul Alam Majumdar of Shujan called it a “win for democracy,” emphasising the system’s role in preventing “one-party monopolies.”
Yet, the prospective applicationโsparing Yunus’s watchโhas deepened divides. Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman, who backed the transition, has pressed for elections by year-end to avert “sovereignty threats,” echoing murmurs of military impatience with the interim’s “overreaches.” Civil society fears the ruling’s carve-out could embolden rigging allegations, especially with Awami League exclusions and ongoing trials of Hasina-era officials.
Stalled Reforms, Looming Polls: A Nation on Edge
As full judgment details emerge, the decision injects uncertainty into Yunus’s reform triadโtrials, institutional overhauls, and electionsโalready battered by scandals like opaque port deals and U.S.-linked security pacts. Wazed’s salvo, resonating with Awami League diaspora networks, signals a brewing comeback bid, with Hasina’s recent interviews alleging her ouster stemmed from resisting American basing demands.
Critics like journalist Masood Kamal, who earlier slammed Yunus’ “fourth agenda” of asset sales, may seize on this as further proof of judicial capitulation. For now, the court has revived a democratic relicโbut at the cost of immediate trust. As one Shujan petitioner quipped post-verdict: “Better late than never, but why not now?” In a nation scarred by uprising and exile, the answer could define Bangladesh’s next chapterโor fracture it further.
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