Bangladesh to hold elections in late 2025 or early 2026

Reforms should take place first before arrangements for polls, interim leader says

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DHAKA Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus, who heads the caretaker government installed after an August revolution, said on Dec 16 that a general election would be held in late 2025 or in early 2026.

Pressure has been growing on the Nobel Peace Prize winner appointed the country's "chief adviser" after the student-led uprising that toppled then Premier Sheikh Hasina in August - to set a date for polls.

The 84-year-old microfinance pioneer is leading a temporary administration to tackle what he has called the "extremely tough" challenge of restoring democratic institutions in the South Asian nation of about 170 million people.

"Election dates could be fixed by the end of 2025 or the first half of 2026," said Dr Yunus in a broadcast on state television.