Bangladesh to hold national elections in April 2026, interim leader Yunus says

Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus has said national elections will take place in the first half April next year

DHAKA, Bangladesh -- Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus on Friday said that the country will hold national elections in the first half of April 2026.

In a televised address to the nation on Friday, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate said that the Election Commission would roll out a detailed roadmap for the election in due course.

Yunus took over three days after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted in a student-led mass uprising in August 2024, ending her 15-year rule. Hasina has been in exile in India since. The interim government banned Hasina’s Awami League party, which is one of the country’s two largest political parties.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, or BNP, headed by Hasina’s archrival and former prime minister Khaleda Zia, had been demanding the elections be held in December.

Yunus had earlier said that the election would be held between December and next June. The relationship between Yunus and the BNP has been frosty in recent months over the disagreement about the election schedule. Zia's party accused Yunus of following tactics to delay a vote.

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