Dhaka: People are “disappointed” by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus’s announcement to hold elections in April 2026, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) said on Saturday, reiterating the party’s demand for polls by December this year.
“People’s victory was achieved through the immense sacrifices made by students and the masses during the July uprising. But the unwarranted delay in arranging the election has disappointed and angered the people,” Dhaka Tribune quoted the party as saying in a statement.
The statement said BNP’s national standing committee, in an emergency virtual meeting, reiterated its proposal to hold the election by December this year, taking into consideration Ramadan, secondary and higher secondary or equivalent examinations, and weather conditions.
The meeting, presided over by BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman, was convened following the chief adviser’s announcement that ignored the aspirations of a nation striving to reclaim its right to vote through prolonged struggles.
“The people of this country, deprived of their basic voting rights for almost a decade and a half, have continued their struggle to restore democracy through voting, despite being disappeared, murdered, imprisoned, injured, and tortured,” it said. “The meeting believes the people of the country may be rightly concerned about the possibility of a free and fair election under this government.”