DHAKA: Bangladesh chief adviser Muhammad Yunus on Saturday shared two possible timelines for the next general elections - Dec 2025 or mid-2026, while assuring a British MP that the polls would be completely "free and fair".
"People could not vote in the last three elections. There was a fake parliament, fake MPs, and a fake speaker," Yunus told UK MP Rupa Huq, in an apparent reference to allegations of vote-rigging during the tenures of the now-ousted Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League govt.
He also told Huq on what led to the July mass uprising and about the "repression of the people" during the tenure of ousted PM Sheikh Hasina.
Yunus shared the timelines of Dec 2025 or mid-2026 when he was asked by Huq about the tentative date for the general elections. reform initiatives undertaken by the interim govt of Bangladesh, and the participation process of political parties, according to the chief adviser's press wing.
On Dec 16 last year, Yunus had said the national polls are likely to be held between the end of 2025 and the first half of 2026.