Dhaka, Bangladesh - Bangladesh's Election Commission has canceled the registration of the former ruling party that removed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to prevent him from participating in the next national election, which is expected to be held in June next year.

On Monday, a formal notice from the country's interim government by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus banned the prohibition of AWAMI Coalition and its affiliates from conducting activities online and elsewhere.

The official notice from the Ministry of Home Affairs issued on Monday was issued two days after the interim cabinet decided to ban all activities under the country's Anti-Terrorism Act until the special court held a trial on the party and its leaders.

In the notice, the government said it prohibits all activities “including any form of publications, media, online and social media” and “any type of movement, parade, conference, gathering, or conference (OR) meetings until the trial of leaders and activists…

It said the decision was effective immediately.

The Election Commission said on Monday that the party led by Hasina would not be allowed to participate in the next election. Political parties must be registered with the Election Commission to participate in the election.

Anyone who posts comments online to support the AWAMI Coalition Party will face arrest, a government adviser said Monday.

On Sunday, the Awami League accused the Provisional Government of trampling on “democratic norms” by banning its activities. It said in a statement that the ban “a division within society, strangling democratic norms, fueling the massacre of opponents, and strangling inclusiveness, all of which are undemocratic measures.”

The Awami Alliance is one of the two major political parties in Bangladesh, which has a fragile parliamentary democracy with a history of violent coups and political assassination.

Hasina, the daughter of Bangladesh independent leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, fled the country on August 5 last year and has since been exiled with many senior party colleagues and former cabinet masters and legislators. They are accused of killing protesters in an uprising against Hasina for 15 years last July to August.

The UN Human Rights Office said in a February report that up to 1,400 people could be killed during three weeks of anti-Black Sina protests. However, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights recommended in a report that “avoiding bans from political parties will undermine the return of truly multi-party democracy and effectively deprive a large portion of Bangladesh voters.”

The Awami League led the nine-month war against Bakistan independence in 1971, and has been under tremendous pressure since Hasina's removal. Protesters attacked and burned down many offices, including its headquarters in Dhaka. It accused the Provisional Government of sponsoring mobs of attacking homes and businesses of its activists and leaders. It said thousands of supporters have been arrested nationwide and many have been killed.

Yunus said the next election could be held in December or next June.