Latest news with #BangladeshElection
Reuters
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Bangladesh interim government head signals possible early election
DHAKA, June 13 (Reuters) - Bangladesh's interim leader 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, who urged the vote be held before Ramadan, 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. Yunus, currently on a visit to Britain, last week said the election would be held by the first half of 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.
Bloomberg
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Bangladesh's Yunus Signals February Vote After Political Talks
Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus has indicated that a national election could take place as early as the week before Ramadan begins in February, should reforms advance sufficiently in the coming months. The remarks, released in a joint statement from Yunus's office, follow a meeting in London with Tarique Rahman, acting chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the South Asian nation's main political party.
Times of Oman
08-06-2025
- Politics
- Times of Oman
"Condemn this so-called Bangladesh election...people had voted, elected Sheikh Hasina": Awami League leader Rabbi Alam
Michigan: Rabbi Alam, Chairman of Joy Bangla Brigade and vice president of Bangladesh Awami League, USA, has condemned the announcement of national election by the interim government of Bangladesh and maintained that Sheikh Hasina "is the duly elected Prime Minister" till 2029. In an interview with ANI, Alam slammed Muhammad Yunus, the Chief Advisor of the interim government of Bangladesh, for announcing that a national election would be held in the first half of April 2026. Sheikh Hasina, president of Awami League, was ousted from power in a student-led uprising in August last year. She fled to India, and an interim government led by Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Laureate, was formed. "As you know, Bangladesh went through was a false flag operation. The protest led by the students was hijacked by (people now in) the interim government headed by Dr Yunus," Rabbi Alam alleged. Rabbi Alam said "many false allegations, many false claims, empty promises" were made. He said the announcement of a national election is "like a lollipop being handed to a young child". Rabbi Alam said Bangladesh is to be run by a democratic form of government. "Our constitution is the core of the fundamentals of the nation and this constitution gives the rights. Sheikh Hasina is democratically elected. We will condemn this so-called election because, according to our constitution, Sheikh Hasina is the Prime Minister until 2029. People are the main powerhouse in a democratic form of government. People voted, elected Sheikh Hasina...," he said. "With a false flag operation, Dr Yunus robbed our democracy," he alleged. He expressed concern over the law and order situation in Bangladesh and blamed Muhammad Yunus. "We know that the country faced a heavy backlash. There are many incidents of rape, killing, arson, burning, fire. Lynching, mob justice is every day matter," he alleged. He also said that Dr Yunus "doesn't understand politics" and "is an economist". Bangladesh's interim government on Friday announced that the national election will be held in the first half of April 2026. "I am announcing to the countrymen today that the next national elections will be held sometime in the first half of April 2026. Based on this announcement, the Election Commission will provide you with a detailed roadmap for the elections in due course", said Muhammad Yunus, Chief Adviser to the interim government of Bangladesh, in an address to the nation through state television, BTV, on the eve of Eid-ul-Azha.
CNA
06-06-2025
- Politics
- CNA
Bangladesh to hold election in first half of April 2026, interim PM says
DHAKA: Bangladesh will hold a national election in the first half of April 2026, its de facto premier said on Friday (Jun 6), after a period of interim unelected government since student-led unrest in 2024 toppled then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina. The administration led by Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has been running the South Asian nation of 173 million people since August, when Hasina fled to India in the face of deadly street protests against her government. Yunus' administration, however, has also faced serious discontent in recent weeks, with protests breaking out last month over wage demands and orders relating to the dismissal of public servants for misconduct without lengthy procedures. "After reviewing the ongoing reform activities..., I am announcing to the people today that the next national election will be held on any day in the first half of April 2026," Yunus said in an address to the nation on Friday. The election commission would provide a detailed roadmap for the vote at an appropriate time, said Yunus, who is not aligned with any party and has said he is not interested in running. Opposition groups, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), had been demanding early elections, warning of instability and "strong resentment within the people" if a vote were not held by December. The BNP's leader and former prime minister, Khaleda Zia, was acquitted in January in a 2008 corruption case, paving the way for her to run in the next election. Hasina's Awami League party was effectively barred from contesting the polls when the elections commission suspended its registration last month. Yunus' government had earlier banned all Awami League activities under the Anti-Terrorism Act after days of protests, citing national security threats.
Times of Oman
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Times of Oman
Bangladesh Chief Adviser announces national election in first half of April 2026
Dhaka: The Bangladesh interim government on Friday announced that the national election will be held in the first half of April 2026. "I am announcing to the countrymen today that the next national elections will be held sometime in the first half of April 2026. Based on this announcement, the Election Commission will provide you with a detailed roadmap for the elections in due course", said Muhammad Yunus, Chief Adviser to the interim government of Bangladesh, in an address to the nation through state television, BTV, on the eve of Eid-ul-Azha. The Chief Adviser had said until now that he would hold elections by June 2026. However, political parties, including the BNP, were expecting a roadmap for the elections by December of this year. According to The Daily Star, the National Citizen Party had been pushing for the election to be held after reforms are completed. The announcement of the national election is a major development for Bangladesh politics after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government in August 2024. Chief of Army Staff General Waker-Uz-Zaman, had said on May 21 that the national election should be held by December this year, The Daily Star reported. Yunus said in his address that after one-and-a-half decades, a truly representative parliament will be formed in the country. He urged the people of the country "to obtain specific commitments" from all political parties and candidates that they will approve without any change, in the first session of the next parliament, the reforms on which consensus has been reached, the report said. "You [people] will make them [political parties] promise that they will never compromise on the independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and national dignity of Bangladesh and will not sell the country's interests to any foreign power," he said, according to the report. He also reminded the people of the country that this election is not just about peaceful elections. It is an election to build a 'New Bangladesh'. "In this election, there will be only known parties. They will have their known symbols. But the voter has to find out who the candidates behind this symbol are to what extent they are ready to build a 'New Bangladesh'. How committed are they?" he said, according to the report.
