Bangladesh Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus on Monday declared the nation is ready to hold polls in the first half of February next year. He assured the interim government will be replaced by an elected government.
Addressing the 'Stakeholders' Dialogue' in Cox's Bazar, Yunus said, "We declared the election in the first half of February 2026.the interim government will be replaced by an elected government."
United News of Bangladesh (UNB) states that Yunus underscored that Bangladesh has attained a "stable enough" point and is prepared to conduct the polls. The ceremony was attended by government representatives, United Nations agencies, and international organizations.
In his speech, Yunus said, "Now, we are ready for another transition in our political life. We have declared the time for the election. It's almost a year ago, we had the revolution and the nation has arrived at this stable enough place and ready to hold the election."
Bangladesh has been going through turmoil regarding its next general elections ever since last year when violent protests compelled the removal of the democratically-elected Awami League government led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The parties who joined hands with Yunus in overthrowing Hasina are currently disagreeing over reform proposals and the timeline for the next polls.
On Aug 20, Senior Joint Secretary General of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Ruhul Kabir Rizvi feared that democracy hadn't been restored fully and free and fair elections weren't assured.
Addressing a press briefing at the BNP central office in Dhaka, Rizvi explained, "Our job is yet to be done, democracy has yet to be restored, we might have to tread a riskier route to restore that democracy. For that reason, leaders and activists of all levels of our party and nationalist forces are prepared."
He further said, "Our free and fair elections are not yet guaranteed. We get to know of different conspiracies. We get to know about different master plans," according to senior Bangladeshi daily Jugantor.
On the other hand, Senior BNP leader Nazrul Islam Khan denounced demands by some political parties for the implementation of a Proportional Representation (PR) system in the upcoming national elections as "unrealistic and suspicious.
Khan explained, "When such insistence is made on this issue (PR), it raises questions that this may be an unreasonable effort, causing severe adverse effects to conduct the election."
He added that to introduce PR in the coming elections, a constitutional amendment will be needed, which cannot be done prior to the election.
"Even if you agree to bring in PR, you still cannot implement it in the next election, because the constitution would first have to be changed. Parliament alone has the right to do so. So, if you want to bring it in at all, it could only be done in the next election," Khan added.
