Bangladesh opposition says government aims to hold polls by December
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An official at a polling station in 2024 in Dhaka. Some politicians expect a road map for a general election in Bangladesh to be announced soon.
PHOTO: REUTERS
DHAKA – Bangladesh is working towards holding a general election by December, the party of former prime minister Khaleda Zia said after some of its officials held a meeting with Professor Muhammad Yunus, the chief adviser to the interim government.
The South Asian nation has been under a caretaker government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Yunus since August, when mass protests forced then Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina to resign and flee to neighbouring India.
Ms Khaleda’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and rival Hasina’s Awami League have governed Bangladesh for most of the past three decades.
The BNP expects Prof Yunus to announce a road map for a general election soon, its secretary-general, Mr Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, told reporters.
“We have once again pressed them on this matter,” he said on Feb 10. “He (Prof Yunus) told us that they are working to hold the election by December.”
There was no comment on the meeting from the interim administration.
It is the most specific date mentioned since prior suggestions by Prof Yunus of possible timeframes for the end of 2025 or the middle of 2026. The BNP was among parties pushing for an early election. It had urged for it to be held by August.
Last week, thousands of protesters set fire to the residence of Bangladesh’s founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman after Ms Hasina, his daughter, called on supporters to stand against the interim government.
At the time, Prof Yunus’ press office said the protesters’ attack on Mr Rahman’s residence was unintended and unwanted, coming as a response to Ms Hasina’s “violent” behaviour.
“The government cannot evade responsibility for these incidents,” Mr Alamgir said after the BNP delegation met Prof Yunus on Feb 10. “Those incidents happened in front of law enforcement and other government agencies.”
During the meeting, the interim government said it was taking steps necessary to rein in prices, after the BNP raised the issue of high inflation, Mr Alamgir added.
Inflation stood at 9.94 per cent in January, government data showed. In a monetary policy report on Feb 10, the central bank said it expected inflation to decline in the coming months. REUTERS