Is Bangladesh getting impatient with Yunus?

It’s been six months since Sheikh Hasina, the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh, was ousted following violent protests in the country. The demonstrations, which started as a protest against job quotas, turned into a revolution demanding the overhaul of Bangladesh’s political landscape.

Soon after Hasian fled the country, The student activists involved in the protests collectively chose the country’s Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus to assume the position of Interim Chief Adviser. The microfinance pioneer was seen as a leader who could solve the crisis that was in hand after the protests. However, things changed as time went on. While the Yunus regime struggled to promptly usher in new reforms, they also did not deal with the persistent instability across the country.

Violence continued to rattle the country, with anti-Hasina activists attempting to erase her and her family’s legacy. Earlier this week, these activists barged into the residence of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and vandalised his home, expressing their anger towards the man who led the country’s independence struggle. The minorities in the country are also facing their own share of challenges. In the midst of all this, people are getting impatient with the Yunus regime, with many calling for urgent elections. Here’s a look at the factors that contributed to this impatience.

Yunu’s govt’s underperformance

Soon after assuming the role of interim adviser, Yunus made several ambitious promises, such as restoring democracy, rebuilding institutions, and reforming governance. However, his government has underperformed so far. When it comes to public safety, several Bangladeshi police officers have refused to report to duty and anti-Hasina activists continue to create a ruckus all across the country. Several Bangladeshi politicians and business leaders have often raised concerns about the deplorable law and order situation.

Meanwhile, the country’s economy continues to struggle with little to no respite. According to the data released by an independent organisation, inflation in Bangladesh is falling but it is still close to double digits. Bangladesh’s GDP growth between July and December 2024 was less than 2 per cent, and foreign direct investment fell by 71 per cent in the three months after Hasina’s ouster.

Not only this, but the public also has limited information and clarity about the interim government’s reform plans. While the reform commissions set up by Yunus did introduce recommendations which would ensure smooth governance, it remains unclear what exact goals the regime is trying to set up.

Yunus’s regime ushers in a new kind of repression

One of the major things that the Hasina government was accused of was repressing the voices of dissent. However, his successor might be doing the same things its own way. Soon after Yunus came to power, an association of editors and rights groups accused the new government of systematically suppressing independent media, ABC News reported. However, the authorities noted that there has been no such intimidation.

But the accusations started to gain momentum after two media freedom groups, the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders, urged the government to ensure fair trials and uphold procedural rights for journalists. Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch has also been demanding the interim government to establish legal detention practices and repeal laws used to target critics.

While the Yunus-led government got rid of the Hasina-era abusive Cyber Security Act, which was often used to crush freedom of speech, the regime replaced it with an ordinance that contains many of the same harmful provisions. Not only this, the light of the religious minorities remains unheard of.

The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council has accused the interim government of failing to protect religious and ethnic minorities from attacks and harassment. The Yunus government continue to deny these accusations, insisting that most of the killings and other attacks were for “political reasons”. However, many raised concerns about the rise in radical Islamist groups after the ousting of Hasina.

The growing impatience

One of the key issues with the Yunus regime is that it still lacks a formal public mandate. While most people in Bangladesh welcomed the new administration with open arms, it is still not an elected government. Hence, the longer it stays in power without a public mandate, the more people will start to get impatient.

While Yunus has pledged to hold elections in the country by the end of the year, he has yet to give a formal timeline in this regard. Several political leaders have been calling for urgent elections. Earlier this week, Bangladesh National Party’s (BNP) acting chairman Tarique Rahman raised concerns over whether the recent reforms are being used as a pretext to delay elections.

“We notice that some people are prolonging all kinds of processes by talking about reforms, reforms. Today, we have to see whether this (harping on reforms) is a conspiracy. If this process is prolonged on the plea of reforms, then the country’s problems will multiply,” he said on Wednesday, The Dhaka Tribune reported. “The sooner we can establish a people’s government, the sooner we will be able to lead Bangladesh on the path to prosperity,” he added.

However, the newly elected government will face its own share of challenges. The next government in Bangladesh would not only domestic policy challenges but also growing external worries—including tense ties with India, uncertain relations with the new Trump administration in the United States, and a border crisis with Myanmar which is now led by the rebel Arakan Army. Since the turbulence in the country still remains, things are less likely to get easier in Dhaka even if a new government comes in.

With inputs from agencies.