DHAKA: Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus signalled on Friday the possibility of holding a national election in February next year, two months earlier than previously announced.
Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel peace laureate who has led an interim government since August, was responding to a suggestion from Tarique Rahman, acting chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), who urged the vote be held before Ramazan, which begins in mid-February 2026.
Yunus responded positively, saying an election could be held in the week before Ramadan if sufficient progress was made on political and judicial reforms.
The comments came in a joint statement released after the two men met in London.
KHALEDA ZIA
Yunus, currently on a visit to Britain, last week said the election would be held by the first half of April 2026.
Read more: Bangladesh leader Yunus announces elections in April 2026
However, pressure has been mounting from opposition groups for an earlier vote, with the BNP warning of public unrest if elections were delayed beyond December.
Yunus’ administration, which came to power after deadly student-led protests forced then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to flee to India, has recently faced growing discontent.
BNP chief Khaleda Zia was acquitted in January in a long-running corruption case, clearing her path to contest the upcoming election. Rahman is Zia’s son.
Meanwhile, Hasina’s Awami League party has been effectively sidelined after its registration was suspended by the Election Commission and its activities banned under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
The BNP is widely seen as likely to sweep elections.
Yunus and Rahman were shown smiling and shaking hands in the meeting in London, according to photographs released by the government press team, although relations between the caretaker government and the BNP have been rocky.
The interim government warned last month that political power struggles risked jeopardising gains that have been made, saying that holding elections by mid-2026 would give them time to overhaul democratic institutions.
Hasina’s rule saw widespread human rights abuses and her government was accused of politicising courts and the civil service, as well as staging lopsided elections.
Under pressure from political parties, including the BNP, Yunus said this month that polls will be held in April.
REFORMS AND TRIALS
Khalilur Rahman, a senior member of Yunus’ cabinet, said it was possible that the “election will be held earlier provided significant progresses in reforms and trials are made”.
On the other hand, key BNP leader Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said they “hope we can reach a consensus on the reforms soon”.
Yunus, 84, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, has said he will not continue the caretaker role he took up at the behest of student protesters after Hasina fled by helicopter to India.