Dhaka, June 16 (IANS) The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) on Monday urged the interim government in the country to communicate to the Election Commission (EC) its decision to hold national elections in February 2026, as it was decided during Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus’s meeting with the Acting BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman in London, last week.
Addressing an event at the Jatiya Press Club in Dhaka, BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed said notifying the EC would enable the party to inform the public about the directive received from the government on the elections.
“We hope that the interim government will take steps to initiate the necessary process for a democratic transformation, and that the decision taken in the London meeting will soon be communicated to the Election Commission through the appropriate channel,” Bangladeshi media outlet UNB quoted the BNP leader as saying.
Additionally, while discussing the proposed budget for fiscal 2025-2026, Salahuddin said that inflation is growing in the country and no measures were being taken by the government led by Yunus to reduce it.
“10 months is enough time to prepare a budget. Even an elected government doesn’t work all 12 months to prepare a budget as they focus on it three to four months before the announcement,” he stated.
As Bangladesh continues to grapple with political conflict and instability, Yunus had on Friday held a meeting with Tarique Rahman at a London hotel during his visit to the United Kingdom, which has been dubbed as a “damp squib” by analysts.
The much-anticipated meeting took place at a time when the rift between various political parties over holding national elections in the country continues to widen.
According to a joint statement released after the meeting, Rahman proposed to Yunus that elections in the country should take place before the beginning of Ramadan in 2026, adding that BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia also shared the same view.
Yunus on the other hand, mentioned that he has already announced elections to be held in the first half of April 2026. However, if all preparations are completed, he said, the elections could also be organised in the week before Ramadan starts in 2026. In that case, sufficient progress would need to be made on reforms and justice within that time frame, he emphasised.
While Ramadan is expected to begin in mid-February next year, top BNP leaders earlier demanded parliamentary elections by December this year.
This was Tarique Rahman’s first private meeting with Yunus since he left Bangladesh and settled in London in September 2008.
Yunus had recently announced that the country’s next national elections will be held “on a day in April”, next year.
“I’m announcing to the countrymen that the next national elections will be held on a day in the first half of April 2026,” Yunus said in a televised speech to the nation ahead of Eid.
He said that the Election Commission will present a detailed roadmap of the election at an “appropriate time”.
However, various political parties in the country had immediately slammed the move.
Earlier, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told local media in Dhaka that April is “not suitable in any way” for holding national elections.
“April is not the right time for holding polls in Bangladesh. There will be the possibility of extreme heat, storms and rains during the period. And, the time is right after Ramadan… There are public examinations as well,” said Alamgir.
–IANS
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