Blitz Bureau
IN yet another major embarrassment for Bangladesh’s interim government, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has rejected Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus’ call for holding national elections in April 2026, reported IANS.
Yunus on June 4 had said that the country’s next national elections will be held “on a day in April”, next year. In a televised speech to the nation on the eve of the festival of Eid al-Adha, Yunus also said that the country’s Election Commission will present a detailed roadmap of the election at an “appropriate time”.
However, various political parties in the country slammed the move within a few hours of Yunus making the announcement. 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.
He mentioned that holding elections in April would mean conducting polling campaigns during the month of Ramadan, which would not be suitable at all. “We think December will be most suitable for polls… We gave our reaction…. We have always demanded that we wanted the election by December, and so was the expectation of the people,” he said.