Yunus claims Bangladesh ‘stable enough’ and ready to hold elections

Dhaka: Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus said on Monday that the country is ready to hold polls in the first half of February, next year. He stated that the interim government will be replaced by an elected government.

During his address at the ‘Stakeholders’ Dialogue’ in Cox’s Bazar, Yunus said, “We announced the election in the first half of February 2026…the interim government will be replaced by an elected government.”

Yunus stated that Bangladesh has reached a “stable enough” position and is ready to hold polls, United News of Bangladesh (UNB) reported. Representatives from governments, United Nations agencies and international organisations were present during the event.

During the event, Yunus said, “Now, we are ready for another transition in our political history. We have announced the time for the election. It’s just about a year back, we had the uprising and the country has come to this stable enough position and ready to have the election,”

Bangladesh has been gripped by uncertainty over the next general elections since the democratically-elected government of Awami League, led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was overthrown during violent protests last year. The parties that collaborated with Yunus to remove Hasina are now at loggerheads over reform proposals and the timing of the next polls.

On August 20, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said that democracy has not been restored in the country, and free and fair elections are still not ensured.

Addressing a press conference at the BNP central office in Dhaka, Rizvi said: “Our work is not finished yet, democracy has not been restored yet, we may have to cross a more dangerous path to restore that democracy. For this reason, leaders and activists of all levels of our party and nationalist forces are ready.”

“Our free and fair elections are not yet assured. We hear about various conspiracies. We hear about various master plans,” leading Bangladeshi daily Jugantor quoted the BNP leader as saying.

Meanwhile, BNP senior leader Nazrul Islam Khan also called the demand by some political parties to introduce a Proportional Representation (PR) election system in the next national election “unrealistic and suspicious.”

“When such insistence is placed on this matter (PR), it creates doubts that this could be an unreasonable attempt, leading to serious negative consequences for holding the election,” said Khan.

He said that to apply PR in the upcoming elections, there was a need to amend the Constitution, which is not possible before the elections.

“Even if you agree on introducing PR, you still cannot apply it in the coming election, because the constitution would need to be amended first. Only parliament has the authority to do that. So, if you want to introduce it at all, it would only be possible in the following election,” he added.

–IANS