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D. Fernando Casal Bertoa, Associate Professor, School of Politics and international relations, University of Nottingham. (This guy is a heavyweight in political science arena!)
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Prothom Alo: You know, following the fall of a 15-year autocratic regime in Bangladesh, the activities of the former ruling party were banned pending trial, primarily due to their direct responsibility for grave human rights violations. Given your research on party bans, what is your opinion on banning a previous autocratic regime’s party during a transition?
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Fernando Casal: Peaceful transitions often require dealing with the previous regime. In post-communist countries, many communist parties converted into socialist or democratic parties. As long as individuals were not involved in criminal activities like murder or torture, they are often accepted because they still have supporters. You should try the people—the leaders or the dictator's family who benefited—not necessarily the entire party.
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However, democracy must defend itself—this is ‘militant democracy’. If a party refuses to accept the rules of the democratic game, uses violence, or continues to threaten the opposition, then it is normal to ban them. In Europe, parties generally cannot be banned unless they use violence. All in all, international guidelines suggest that banning a political party should be the last resource.
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Prothom Alo: However, here in Bangladesh, there are allegations of crimes against humanity against that party.
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Fernando Casal: If a party is considered responsible for crimes, it could be tried. For example, the Nazi party was banned in Germany, and communist parties have been banned in many countries. In principle, I am against banning parties, but if a party is held responsible for crimes against humanity, like the Nazis or certain communist regimes, then it could be banned.
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However, this is nuanced. Even if a party is banned, if it re-establishes itself under a different name—with leaders who are not responsible for those crimes and who support democracy—it should be allowed to participate. The beauty of democracy is that as long as you respect the democratic system, you are okay.
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Read Full interview.
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Well known democracy researcher like D. Fernando Casal's soft endorsement of fascist awami ban is huge.
