Bangladesh: BNP and democratic forces growing restive over election, interim government trying to continue illegitimate rule

By Our Correspondent

Agartala, May 21, 2025

With the Yunus led interim government dragging its feet over holding the much-awaited elections to the Bangladesh national assembly, the Major opposition party BNP and its allies excluding the fundamentalist Jamat-e-Islami are growing increasingly restive over elections and the misrule of the interim government. Voicing growing public concern over delay in announcing a definite poll schedule the BNP’s national executive body yesterday held a meeting and demanded early elections to the national assembly besides slamming the interim government manned by unelected individuals for efforts to defer the same on one excuse or the other.

Veteran BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Alamgir who is currently convalescing in Bangkok after undergoing treatment for a disease took part in yesterday’s meeting virtually . Addressing the party’s national executive body he expressed grave concern over the dithering of the interim government over holding elections and condemned the government for this. He also dropped a subtle hint that unless early election dates are announced the BNP and its allies will be left with no other alternative but to launch a countrywide agitation. Even though no agitational programme was announced after yesterday’s meeting the BNP is mulling over a protest programme soon.

Meanwhile, in order to deflect the increasingly strident criticism over deferment of elections, the Yunus sponsored National Citizens Party (NCP) activists and leaders today launched a protest programme in front of the election commission office demanding removal of officers manning it as they had been recruited and posted by the ousted Awami League government. Sources from across the border said that such diversionary tactics of the NCP will not cut ice with the people looking for a fairly elected national government. “What the interim government and its brain-child the NCP are trying wish away is that whatever reform measures are finalized by them will have to be ratified by an elected parliament for them to be constitutionally valid; their main purpose is to cling to ill-begotten power as long as possible” said sources.

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