Dhaka– Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus said Monday that the country is ready to move toward elections in early 2026, signaling the end of the interim government that took power after the ouster of Sheikh Hasina last year.
Speaking at the “Stakeholders’ Dialogue” in Cox’s Bazar, Yunus confirmed that polls are scheduled for the first half of February. “We announced the election in the first half of February 2026… the interim government will be replaced by an elected government,” he said.
Yunus argued that Bangladesh has reached a “stable enough” position following last year’s violent uprising that toppled the Awami League government. “Now, we are ready for another transition in our political history,” he told representatives from foreign governments, the United Nations, and international organizations. “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.”
The country has faced deep political uncertainty since the fall of Hasina’s government. Parties that aligned with Yunus during the upheaval are now clashing over reforms and the timing of the vote.
Leaders of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) remain skeptical. On August 20, BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi warned that democracy has yet to be restored. “Our work is not finished yet,” he said at a press conference in Dhaka. “Democracy has not been restored yet. We may have to cross a more dangerous path to restore that democracy.” Rizvi alleged that “conspiracies” and “master plans” were threatening the possibility of free and fair elections.
BNP senior leader Nazrul Islam Khan also dismissed demands by some political groups to introduce a Proportional Representation voting system, calling it “unrealistic and suspicious.” He said such a change would require constitutional amendments and could not be applied to the coming election. “If you want to introduce it at all, it would only be possible in the following election,” Khan argued.
Bangladesh now faces the challenge of navigating its next democratic transition, with Yunus promising elections within months while opposition leaders warn of lingering risks to a fair contest. (Source: IANS)
