ALBAWABA - Following the August revolution in Bangladesh, interim leader Muhammad Yunus said Monday that general elections would be held late next year or early 2026.
"Election dates could be fixed by the end of 2025 or the first half of 2026," he stated in a state television broadcast. Yunus has formed commissions to supervise a number of reforms he claims are necessary, and the election date will be established based on how political parties agree.
"Throughout, I have emphasized that reforms should take place first before the arrangements for an election," he added.
On August 5, hundreds of protesters attacked the prime minister's palace in Dhaka, forcing Sheikh Hasina to flee by helicopter to nearby India.
Hundreds of people were killed in the weeks leading up to Hasina's removal, the most by police shooting. Scores more were killed in the hours following her ouster, primarily as a result of retaliation killings against prominent Awami League supporters.
Her government was also accused of politicizing courts and the civil service, as well as holding lopsided elections to undermine democratic balances on her power.
An updated voter list is crucial among the reforms required, he added. This is a "complex" task following years of turbulent democratic processes, needing both the removal of fake names from lists and the registration of first-time voters in a rapidly expanding youth population.
"Ensuring 100 percent voter turnout" in polls was Yunus's dream, he claimed. "If this can be achieved, no government will ever dare to strip citizens of their voting rights again," he stated.
The last time Bangladesh had general elections was in January, when Hasina declared victory in a ballot that rivals boycotted and criticized as being neither free nor fair following a crackdown that resulted in the detention of hundreds of opposition party members.
