Bangladesh: As Md Yunus sets June 2026 deadline for elections, demand for polls by December 2025 grows, BNP says there will be no election if it is not held by December

As the Muhammad Yunus-led caretaker government Bangladesh continues to delay holding elections, demands for early elections have grown in the country. Days after Bangladesh Army chief General Waker-uz-Zaman asked the government to hold elections by December 2025 and not make any major policy decisions, major political party Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has intensified its demand to hold elections by this year.

Notably, Muhammad Yunus has refused to hold elections by December 2025. He has said that the elections could be hold between December 2025 to June 2026, effectively saying he will remain in power for another year. The interim government wants to make major legal and constitutional changes in the country, while the political parties say that only an elected government should bring such changes.

BNP Vice President Advocate Zainul Abedin on Saturday urged the government to hold elections by December and step down from power. He said that caretaker governments came to power earlier also, but they didn’t take so long to hole elections. Abedin also said that major reforms are not possible before the elections, and therefore elections should be held first.

He said, “It doesn’t take 10 months to reform and hold elections. Yet, you’ve already taken ten months. Our leader has said elections must be held by December. We don’t believe major reforms are necessary within this timeframe. If you hold elections by December, you can step down with dignity. We will all cooperate.”

Another BNP leader Mirza Abbas said that if elections are not held by December this year, they may never be held. “Don’t try to delay the election with excuses. We know very well that if the election doesn’t take place in December, there will never be another election in this country. Bangladesh will be subjugated to foreign masters,” he said on 30 May.

Mirza Abbas also said that only one person is against holding elections by December – Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus. He said that if the polls are pushed back to June next year, there will be no election at all. The BNP leader also slammed Yunus for calling politicians ‘inpatient’ for demanding early elections.

These comments by BNP leaders come after BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman made the demand on Wednesday. He had said, “We call on the interim government: national elections must be held by this December. Once again, I emphasize, elections must take place within this timeframe.” He also asked party members and citizens to begin preparations to ensure that national elections are held by December.

Tarique Rahman alleged that certain sections in the government are conspiring to delay the elections. He said that the talks of ‘reforms before elections’ are just tactics to delay the polls. He reiterated the demand on Thursday, saying that not announcing a date for election has created political uncertainty in the country.

The BNP chief said that while the interim govt was formed legally under a special situation, it is not accountable to the people under any circumstances. Stressing the need for an elected government, he said, “The state as well as the government can be made accountable to the people only by establishing an accountable government.”

I often make a point that bears repeating: reforming individual mindsets is far more important than reforming texts or institutions on paper. After all, the constitution of North Korea proclaims the country to be the “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.” The words may be… pic.twitter.com/Jz8AGQxYJf

— Tarique Rahman (@trahmanbnp) May 28, 2025

Rahman also posted a long message on X, calling for elections by December. He said that for any interim government, neutrality and credibility are its greatest assets, and these must not be squandered. Tarique Rahman added that if anyone currently in power wishes to remain in governance, they must resign and contest elections.

Notably, during his recent Japan visit, Md Yunus had reiterated that elections will be held between December 2025 to June 2026. He also called politicians impatient for demanding earlier elections. He had said, “When elections take place an elected government takes over responsibility and we hand it over to them. People are insisting to tell them when the elections would be because the politicians are very impatient, to get to their seats of power. So I have been promising them for some time. It could be in December this year or at the latest June of 2026, so six months gap, depending on how fast we can do the reforms.”

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