Bangladesh on Sunday restored the registration of the Jamaat-i-Islami party, allowing it to take part in elections, more than a decade after it was removed under the now-overthrown government.

The country’s supreme court overturned a cancellation of Jamaat-i-Islami’s registration, allowing it to be formally listed as a political party with the election commission.

“The election commission is directed to deal with the registration of that party in accordance with law,” commission lawyer Towhidul Islam told AFP.

Jamaat-i-Islami party lawyer, Shishir Monir, said the supreme court’s decision would allow a “democratic, inclusive and multi-party system” in the Muslim-majority country of 170 million people.

“We hope that Bangladeshis, regardless of their ethnicity or religious identity, will vote for Jamaat, and that the parliament will be vibrant with constructive debates,” Monir told journalists.

After Sheikh Hasina was ousted as prime minister in August, the party appealed for a review of the 2013 high court order banning it.

Sunday’s decision comes after Bangladesh’s top court on May 27 overturned a conviction against a key leader of Jamaat-i-Islami, A.T.M. Azharul Islam.

He had been sentenced to death in 2014 for rape, murder and genocide during Bangladesh’s 1971 war with Pakistan.

Jamaat-i-Islami supported Islamabad during the war, a role that still sparks anger among many Bangladeshis today.

They were rivals of Hasina’s father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of the Awami League, who would become Bangladesh’s founding figure.

Hasina banned Jamaat-i-Islami during her tenure and cracked down on its leaders.

In May, Bangladesh’s interim government banned the Awami League, pending the outcome of a trial over its crackdown on mass protests that prompted her ouster last year.

Bangladesh to open trial of fugitive ex-PM

Meanwhile, Bangladesh will open Hasina’s trial on Sunday on charges of crimes against humanity related to the killings of protesters by police, prosecutors said.

ICT chief prosecutor Tajul Islam said on May 12 that Hasina faces at least five charges, including “abetment, incitement, complicity, facilitation, conspiracy and failure to prevent mass murder during the July uprising”.

“The prosecution team … is set to submit charges against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina,” said Gazi MH Tamim, one of the prosecutors.

The hearing is expected to be broadcast live on state-owned Bangladesh Television.

Opinion

Editorial

Diplomatic resolve
Updated 30 May, 2026

Diplomatic resolve

Iran, too, must engage seriously and provide credible assurances about its nuclear programme if it wants sanctions relief and a more stable relationship with the outside world.
Weaponising water
30 May, 2026

Weaponising water

CLIMATE Minister Musadik Malik’s warning against what he described as “water aggression” indicates ...
Rabies toll
30 May, 2026

Rabies toll

EVERY year, rabies, the deadliest zoonotic disease, kills more than 59,000 people worldwide. In Pakistan, it is one...
Pressure politics
Updated 28 May, 2026

Pressure politics

The attempt to connect the Iran conflict with the Abraham Accords makes little sense.
Eid’s true spirit
Updated 27 May, 2026

Eid’s true spirit

Pakistan celebrates Eid while grappling with economic strain that continues to weigh heavily on ordinary households.
Cotton crisis
Updated 29 May, 2026

Cotton crisis

We need a coherent long-term cotton strategy or else, Pakistan might lose a key pillar of its export economy.