Pressure mounts on Yunus: After army, BNP asks for elections by December

Bangladesh's political impasse deepened on Saturday as the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) urged interim government chief Muhammad Yunus to hold national elections by December 2025 and remove "controversial advisers" from his cabinet. This comes just days after the army chief pushed Yunus to commit to elections by the end of the year.

"We have called for completing the reforms quickly and holding the national election by December,” said BNP standing committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain after meeting Yunus at his official Jamuna residence. Hossain, who led the BNP delegation, also sought a formal election roadmap and demanded a reconstituted advisory council excluding advisers Mahfuj Alam and Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuiyan—two student leaders from last year’s anti-Hasina protests now holding key portfolios. BNP's Salahuddin Ahmed said the demand to remove the two advisers was not new and had been conveyed earlier in writing.

Yunus, meanwhile, also met Jamaat-e-Islami and National Citizens Party (NCP) leaders. Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman proposed two timelines: mid-February 2026 if reforms are completed, or immediately after Ramadan if delayed. The NCP pushed again for local body polls before national elections, a move staunchly opposed by the BNP.

Yunus's press secretary Shafiqul Alam said that the chief adviser told all three parties that elections would be held between December and June next year. Both Jamaat and NCP reportedly supported the timeframe.

The political outreach came after an unscheduled advisory council meeting where Yunus confirmed he would stay on as interim chief. "He is definitely staying,” Planning Adviser Wahiduddin Mahmud said. A statement later issued by the council cited persistent obstruction from "unreasonable demands, deliberately provocative and jurisdictionally overreaching statements."

The council warned that if government functioning becomes impossible "under the instigation of defeated forces or as part of a foreign conspiracy," it would present the reasons publicly and “take the necessary steps with the people."

Yunus had earlier told NCP leaders he was considering resignation, citing the lack of consensus among political factions. But NCP convenor Nahid Islam urged him to “stay strong for the sake of the country’s security and future.”

Analysts see Yunus's resignation threat as a test of his public and political backing. Brahma Chellaney, India's top geostrategist, said that the Bangladesh regime was engulfed in political turmoil of its own making. "Its future is hanging by a thread," he added.

Tensions with the military also remain high. Three days ago, Army Chief Gen Waker-Uz-Zaman and other service heads met Yunus, reiterated the call for elections by December, and voiced concern over a proposed humanitarian corridor into Myanmar's Rakhine state — a security issue the military reportedly wasn't fully briefed on.

The next day, Gen Zaman told senior officers he was unaware of some strategic decisions and expressed concern over being sidelined. The military has since intensified its law enforcement role with magistracy powers to curb mob justice and street unrest.

Analysts view the recent army meeting as an effort to reassert institutional authority. The military had supported Hasina's safe exit last year and backed Yunus’s appointment as interim chief after demands by the Students Against Discrimination (SAD), many of whom now form the NCP.

Yunus's administration has since banned the Awami League and initiated trials against its senior leaders, including former ministers, on charges ranging from corruption to crimes against humanity.