It became clear to me, at least, on Wednesday, 20 November, that the current interim government is not moving toward banning Awami League. On that day, during a meeting of the advisory council, it was decided that under the International Crimes (Tribunal) Act, no party or organisation could be held accountable or tried for crimes against humanity. This was despite the fact that the version of the law brought before the advisory council included provisions for trying parties accused of crimes against humanity. It goes without saying that in trying to maintain illegal power in Bangladesh, Awami League, as a party, committed crimes against humanity.

Although there are legal avenues under two other laws to take action against the Awami League, I personally believe that by removing the provision to try organisations or parties under the ICT law, the government essentially signaled in November that they were not moving toward banning the Awami League. A few days earlier, the chief adviser had finally stated the government's position against banning the Awami League during a meeting with representatives from the International Crisis Group.

The chief adviser had made similar statements before, but this time, two events occurred immediately afterward that dramatically shifted the situation. Hasnat Abdullah, the chief organiser (South Region) of the National Citizen Party (NCP), revealed on a Facebook post that during a meeting at a cantonment, some of their members were asked to support the creation of a ‘refined Awami League’ and bring it into the elections.