THE ARMY PUSHES BACK

THE BANGLADESH ARMY CHIEF'S CALL FOR AN EARLY ELECTION SPARKS FRESH SPECULATION ON THE FATE OF THE PROF. MUHAMMAD YUNUS-HEADED INTERIM GOVERNMENT

- By Arkamoy Datta Majumdar

When General Waker-uz-Zaman, chief of the Bangladesh army, addressed a durbar at Senaprangan, the army central auditorium in Dhaka, on May 21, speculation was rife that he might call for the ouster of the country's 'Chief Advisor' Muhammad Yunus. But that didn't happen. Instead, Gen. Zaman reportedly told senior officers that he hoped that by "January 1, 2026, Bangladesh will be governed by a new elected government". The statement, interpreted as a gentle ultimatum rather than a threat, did not sit well with Yunus's interim government.

By the evening of the next day, the pressure showed. Yunus reached out to former cabinet colleague Nahid Islam, one of the faces of the July uprising last year and convenor of the National Citizen Party (NCP), and reportedly expressed a desire to step down. Islam, of course, dissuaded him. Sources in the NCP, which was born out of the student-led protests that ousted the Awami League regime last year, claim that Islam opened unofficial discussions with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami to defuse the situation. On May 24, Yunus convened a cabinet meeting to address the growing tensions between his administration, the army and political parties, followed by meetings with BNP and Jamaat leaders. Later, Yunus's press secretary Shafiqul Alam sought to calm the waters. "All political parties have expressed their faith in Yunus," he said. "He is a man of his word. Between December and June 30 (2026), elections will be held. Dr Yunus will not remain in power after June 30."