Following a meeting with the Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus, at the state guest house Jamuna on Wednesday, the BNP expressed its dissatisfaction over the absence of a clear electoral roadmap.
“We are absolutely not satisfied with his (the chief adviser’s) remarks. We have clearly said that if the election is not held by December, the country’s political and social situation will deteriorate further,” BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said following the meeting.
The BNP delegation held a nearly two-hour-long meeting with the chief adviser and submitted a letter outlining various demands.
In the letter handed to the chief adviser, BNP called for control of commodity prices, free and fair elections, withdrawal of false cases filed by the 1/11 regime and the Awami League government, and prompt announcement and implementation of electoral reforms and a clear roadmap.
It is reported that during the meeting, BNP leaders discussed issues such as a concrete election-time roadmap, ongoing reform processes, withdrawal of political cases, and the trial of Sheikh Hasina.
Mirza Fakhrul informed journalists that the chief adviser told them the government plans to hold the election sometime between December and June 2026. However, no specific date or deadline was given.
Objecting to this ambiguity, Mirza Fakhrul said: “If the election is not held by December, then the country’s political, economic, and social situation will deteriorate further. It will become difficult to control.”
He added: “We will come before you again after discussing within our party and with our allied parties… then we will make a decision.”
Speaking to journalists about the meeting, Law Adviser Dr Asif Nazrul said: “Saying December to June does not mean we intentionally plan to delay until May or June. That’s not the case. The timeline depends on election-related reforms, judicial processes, and other factors.”
He further said: “We categorically said that under no circumstances will the election be pushed beyond June.”
However, BNP argues that most reforms should be implemented by an elected government. “We’ve clearly said that we are open to drafting a charter based on issues where all parties agree. Then we can move towards elections,” Fakhrul said.
Earlier, on February 10, the BNP delegation said after meeting the chief adviser that the government intended to hold elections by December. However, BNP now alleges that this timeline has been extended to June.
When asked about the meeting between BNP and the chief adviser, Prof Dr Lt Col Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah, chairman of Jatiya Nirbachon Parjobekkhon Parishadon (Janipop) told Dhaka Tribune: “At this moment, the two most active political parties in Bangladesh are BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami. Whichever direction they take, the other parties will follow. In such a case, this government will not last even three days.
"On the other hand, the army chief has also spoken about holding elections within 18 months. Overall, if the election is not held by December, the outcome will not be favorable.”
He added: “Whether you are a Nobel laureate or not, public outrage won’t care about the Nobel Prize. Ours is not a Greek city-state with just a handful of elite individuals. You cannot cling to power for five years just because of what someone said at the Eid congregation—that’s not how this works.”