Last Updated:
Bangladesh Elections: Muhammad Yunus, who heads the caretaker government installed after a popular revolution in August, said that general elections in Bangladesh will be held in late 2025 or early 2026.
Muhammad Yunus, who met Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the sidelines of a conference in Egypt, said he wanted to resolve outstanding grievances from Dhaka’s 1971 bloody separation from Islamabad.
Bangladesh Elections: The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the country’s interim government can’t see eye to eye on when elections should be held in the country. This comes after interim leader Muhammad Yunus, who heads the caretaker government installed after a popular revolution in August, said that general elections in Bangladesh will be held in late 2025 or early 2026.
“Election dates could be fixed by the end of 2025 or the first half of 2026,” the Nobel Peace Prize-winning leader said in a national broadcast. He added, “Throughout, I have emphasised that reforms should take place first before the arrangements for an election. If the political parties agree to hold the election on an earlier date with minimum reforms, such as having a flawless voter list, the election could be held … by the end of 2025.”
Local media reports claimed, citing party insiders, that some comments made by government advisers and the BNP’s fear of a new “government-backed political party” in the works are making things even worse.
The BNP has been seeking dialogue with the interim government since it assumed office as it has said repeatedly that the government has failed to set a clear election roadmap and provide a timeline for reforms. The party has also express concern over Bangladesh chief adviser’s proposal to set the minimum voter age to 17 and said such a move could delay the polls further.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said that there is a public perception that the interim government is intentionally delaying the election process, adding, “We can’t delay the election for the sake of reforms. An unelected government cannot stay for a long time under the pretext of reform.”
