Dhaka: General elections in Bangladesh will be held in the first half of April 2026, the head of interim government Muhammad Yunus announced on Friday.
“I am announcing to the citizens of the country that the election will be held on any day in the first half of April 2026,” AFP quoted Yunus as stating.
“The Election Commission will provide you with a detailed roadmap for the elections at an appropriate time,” said the 84-year-old Nobel Peace prize winner Yunus, who has been de-facto Prime Minister since last August when Sheikh Hasina was ousted in a countrywide students’ uprising and had to flee to India.
Yunus’ announcement ends months of uncertainty and political debate over the timing of Bangladesh’s next national election. Yunus had previously indicated that the much-awaited election could be held anytime between December 2025 and June 2026.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies had been seeking elections by December 2025, while the recently-formed National Citizen Party (NCP) was of the view that polls should be held only after key reforms are put in place.
