Bangladesh: Hasina's Awami League, BNP condemn Yunus's Eid address as he picks April 2026 to hold polls

Two of the most prominent parties of Bangladesh have rejected the country’s Interim Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus’s decision to hold elections in April 2026 , demanding that the polls be conducted by the end of 2025. After completing 10 months in power, Yunus used his Eid address to announce that the country would go to the polls in April next year.

It is pertinent to note that this will be the first national election in Bangladesh after a violent protest in the country toppled former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government. Shortly after Yunus’s address to the nation, both ex-PM Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Hasina’s Awami League issued respective statements condemning Yunus’s 10-month-long leadership.

Following a meeting of BNP’s national standing committee, chaired by acting chairman Tarique Rahman, the party said that Yunus is trying to delay elections. “The chief adviser’s Eid address went beyond the traditional festive message and ventured into political issues unrelated to the Interim Government’s stated three-point mandate," the party said in a statement following the meeting.

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Zia’s party criticised Yunus’s discussion of topics like ports and economic corridors, calling it inappropriate and politically biased. BNP insisted that the tone and language of the chief adviser’s speech felt like Yunus was crossing the boundaries of political decorum.

BNP outrightly rejected the April election proposal, citing concerns over the timing, particularly the overlap with the holy month of Ramadan, school examinations, and adverse summer weather conditions. The party went on to question why the elections could not be held in December 2025 , a date also supported by the country’s Army, insisting that Yunus had provided no specific justification for the delay.

Referring to the sacrifices of citizens during the July–August 2024 uprising, the BNP warned that any further delay in polls would only deepen public frustration and anger.

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Awami League calls Yunus ‘fascist’

Meanwhile, ousted Bangladeshi premier Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League also criticised Yunus’s address to the nation, where he announced that Bangladesh’s general elections will be held in April 2026. “We want an election that honours the sacrifices of the martyrs. One with the highest number of voters, candidates, and parties participating. Let this be remembered as the freest and fairest election the nation has seen," Yunus said in his address.

The Awami League slammed Yunus, saying the chief adviser was  trying to cover up his failures by blaming the previous Awami League government and “creating a false narrative of crisis.” It is pertinent to note that Hasina's party is already banned from contesting in polls , a move condemned by the party.

The Awami League said that Yunus’s government lacks democratic legitimacy and serves foreign interests rather than the people of Bangladesh. The party warned that many in the interim government hold foreign passports and will leave the country, but their actions could cause irreversible damage to the nation. Overall, the statements from both the Awami League and the BNP reflected that two of the biggest parties in the country are displeased with Yunus.

With inputs from agencies.