After nearly a year in power, Mohammed Yunus, the de facto prime minister of Bangladesh, has announced that elections will be held in the first half of April 2026. The Nobel Peace laureate took over as the head of an interim government last August following a student-led uprising that forced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to flee the country.
Yunus had previously stated that elections would be held between December 2025 and June 2026, but the actual date has now been confirmed for April. The announcement comes after months of controversy, particularly surrounding Yunus’s engagement with China and the timing of the elections.
Political parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), had been expecting a roadmap for the elections by December of this year. The newly formed National Citizen Party (NCP) has argued that elections should only take place once key reforms are completed. Yunus has echoed this sentiment, emphasizing that reforms must be completed in the correct sequence before elections can be held.
Despite facing public criticism for lack of transparency in the electoral process, Yunus remains committed to ensuring a fair and democratic election. In May, Nahid Islam of the NCP revealed that Yunus had threatened to step down if political parties could not agree on necessary reforms.
As the country prepares for its first election under Yunus’s leadership, all eyes will be on Bangladesh to see how the political landscape evolves in the coming months.
