Four United Kingdom parliamentarians have expressed serious concerns over the ban on widely supported political parties under the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government in Bangladesh ahead of the February polls. They said the move disregards guidance from the United Nations, as well as from the UK and other allies. The British lawmakers from across party lines, including Bob Blackman, Jim Shannon, Jas Athwal, and Chris Law, stressed that the Yunus-led unelected interim government should not have imposed such restrictions on Bangladeshi voters and warned that any election excluding major political parties cannot be considered democratic.
In their statement, the parliamentarians said that Bangladesh stands at a crossroads ahead of the first national election on February 12 since the formation of the interim government in 2024, following the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government.
