Bangladesh: Resignation, threats & more, 3 tactics Yunus is using to save his seat amid pressure for elections

From mulling resignation to threatening “public action”, Bangladesh’s Interim Adviser Muhammad Yunus used all his cards to deal with the growing pressure to hold elections in the country. On August 7, 2024, Yunus was appointed as the country’s chief adviser after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government was toppled following violent protests.

However, Yunus’s long stay in power is making many uncomfortable with country’s army and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), calling for elections. While Yunus emphasised that elections can be conducted only in 2026 after the country implements reforms, both political parties and the Bangladeshi army has been asking the Nobel laureate to hold the elections by the end of this year.

Yunus has been using several tactics to navigate through these rough waters. For starters, he expressed his desire to step down, then he threatened “public action,” indicating a similar kind of protest that took over Bangladesh last year. When all hell broke loose, he dragged India into his own political disasters and blamed it on a so-called ‘conspiracy’.

Tactic 1 - Mulling a resignation

Last week, reports started to emerge that the Bangladeshi chief advisor is considering resigning from his post because he is finding it difficult to work amid pressure. According to Bangladeshi media reports, Yunus lamented how political parties in the country are failing to reach a common ground to bring a change in the country.

Amid the reports, student-led National Citizen Party chief Nahid Islam also hinted that Yunus wants to resign. However, he emphasised that the Nobel prize-winning economist “needs to remain” in the office to ensure a peaceful transition of power. “He (Yunus) said he is thinking about it (resignation). He feels that the situation is such that he cannot work,” Islam said in a conversation with BBC News on Thursday night after he met the 84-year-old leader.

However, the reports of Yunus’s resignation were put to bed after the interim government’s planning adviser, Wahiduddin Mahmud , told reporters after the meeting at the NEC conference room in Dhaka that Yunus had not expressed any intention to step down. “The chief adviser is staying with us. He has not said he will resign, and all other advisers will also continue. We are here to carry out the responsibilities entrusted to us,” Mahmud was quoted as saying by Bangladeshi news outlet Prothom Alo.

Tactic 2 - Issuing threats of public protests

After the threat to resign did not reduce the pressure on the Yunus administration, the Bangladeshi chief adviser issued a sharp warning against what he described as “unreasonable demands” made by the country’s army. He insisted that he would not hesitate to take decisions backed by public support if the transitional government’s autonomy is challenged.

The remarks from Yunus came during an unscheduled meeting of the Advisory Council, which was held on Saturday. “If any actions obstruct the government’s autonomy, reform efforts, judicial processes, free and fair elections, or normal functioning…the government will take the necessary decisions in consultation with the people,” read a statement from Yunus’ office after the meeting.

While some saw the chief adviser’s remarks as firm support for reforms, many considered it a threat to the BNP and Bangladesh’s Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman , who has made a firm call to hold elections by December this year.

Tactic 3 - Drag India into your problems

While the pressure still continued, Yunus went on to blame the ongoing political turmoil on a “conspiracy” to re-establish “Indian hegemony” in Bangladesh. After a meeting with Yunus, on Sunday, Nagorik Oikya president Mahmudur Rahman Manna said that Yunus believes that pro-India conspirators are creating a turmoil in the country.

“For this reason, Yunus believes that the entire nation needs to be united,” Manna told reporters after the meeting. “He (Yunus) started the discussion by saying that we are in a big crisis. By this crisis, he spoke about the conspiracy of Indian hegemony. Indian hegemony does not want to accept this change in us at all. If possible, they want to destroy us in one day and for that, they are doing everything they need to do. These were his words,” he added.

During the meeting with different political party leaders, Yunus emphasised that a ‘war-like situation’ emerged both inside and outside the country ever since the transitional government imposed a ban on former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s party, Awami League.

“A war-like situation emerged both inside and outside the country, preventing us from moving forward, causing everything to collapse, and pushing us back into subservience,” Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam quoted Prof Yunus as saying during the meeting, Bangladeshi news outlet The Daily Star reported.

These three instances reflect how Yunus is trying to use all tactics to save his seat, and Bangladesh remains in turmoil and hopes for polls in the country look bleaker.

With inputs from PTI.