Yunus’ resignation threat throws Bangladesh election timing into turmoil
The army and opposition have been calling for early polls, but the interim leader wants to introduce economic and electoral reforms first
Yunus, who took charge of an interim government in August last year, had pledged sweeping reforms, and free and fair elections. But frustration over the lack of political consensus has reportedly pushed the 84-year-old to the brink.
Competing demands from the army and political parties have stalled his reform agenda, analysts say.
Efforts to shore up Bangladesh’s battered economy, including plans to overhaul the beleaguered banking system, have been slow to materialise. Most of these reforms will take months to implement, according to Sreeradha Datta, an international-relations professor at the Jindal Global University – time an interim government does not have.
Elections in Bangladesh in the past have been very violent
Despite the delays, Yunus remains committed to electoral reforms, which Datta described as a “need of the hour” to ensure free and fair elections.