DHAKA, June 6: Bangladesh’s interim government chief Muhammad Yunus announced that national elections will be held by mid-April 2026, despite mounting pressure from opposition parties like Khaleda Zia’s BNP to hold them by December 2025.
In a televised address, Yunus emphasized the importance of reforms and justice before credible polls can take place.
He said the Election Commission would soon release a detailed election roadmap.
Yunus, who assumed power after Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government was overthrown in August 2024 during a mass student-led uprising, said the interim administration’s mandate includes justice, reform, and elections.
He added that trials of crimes against humanity committed during the uprising are progressing, with many Awami League leaders jailed or tried in absentia.
He criticized flawed past elections for causing long-term instability and accused the former ruling party of fascism.
Despite a call from army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman to hold elections by December 2025 for political stability, Yunus insisted reforms must take priority to ensure clean and inclusive elections.
The National Citizen Party (NCP), born from the Students against Discrimination (SAD) movement and supported by Yunus, has backed the later election timeline.
Yunus urged vigilance against efforts by the ousted regime to disrupt the transitional process, aiming for a “truly representative parliament” and lasting political reform. (PTI)
