[JURIST] The Bangladesh High Court [government backgrounder] said Monday that it has banned the government from conducting any elections, including this month's upcoming national election, because of political instability in the country. The Chief Election Commissioner of the Bangladesh Election Commission [official website] resigned [JURIST report] just last week as further evidence of the current political instability in Bangladesh [JURIST news archive].

Earlier this month, Bangladesh president Iajuddin Ahmed [Wikipedia profile] deferred the January 22 election indefinitely and declared a state of emergency [JURIST report] in the face of violent political protests and political parties threatening to blockade voting places. Bangladeshi authorities arrested over 2500 people [JURIST report] and raided the homes of several political leaders in a crackdown following the swearing-in of the new interim government [New Age report]. Xinhua has more.