DHAKA, Aug 14: Bangladesh’s Election Commission (EC) announced on Thursday that it will unveil a roadmap next week for the general elections scheduled for February 2025, amid growing speculation over whether the polls will take place as planned.
EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said the roadmap will outline meetings with stakeholders and potential amendments to electoral rules, though specific details remain undisclosed.
The announcement follows Interim Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus’s declaration on August 5 that elections would be held in February, later narrowed by the EC to the first week of the month. This comes amid longstanding demands from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and other political and civic groups for a swift transition to an elected government.
Following a violent student-led protest movement, Students Against Discrimination (SAD), which ousted the Awami League government on August 5, Yunus assumed leadership three days later. The BNP, with the Awami League disbanded, re-emerged as the largest party, while a faction of SAD formed the National Citizen Party (NCP) in February 2025.
Speculation around the election’s feasibility intensified as NCP leaders warned that no election should occur before ongoing reforms and trials are completed. NCP chief coordinator Nasiruddin Patwary dismissed the February deadline as unrealistic and demanded justice for those killed during the reform movement.
Adding to the complexity, Jamaat-e-Islami, which has aligned with the NCP, has demanded a shift to a proportional representation (PR) system, arguing it would promote fairness and reduce election manipulation. Jamaat leader Dr. Syed Abdullah Muhammad Taher criticized other political parties—implicitly the BNP—for opposing PR, claiming it threatens entrenched interests.
Both the NCP and Jamaat criticised the interim government’s reform meetings as ineffective, accusing it of lacking legal backing and transparency. They urged authorities to deliver concrete electoral reforms rather than symbolic gestures. (PTI)
