DHAKA: Bangladesh’s interim leader has warned that any deviation from planned elections would be extremely dangerous as violent political rivalries intensify.
The warning follows recent protests across the South Asian nation that left a key opposition leader hospitalised.
Political parties are fiercely competing for power ahead of the first elections since last year’s uprising that overthrew longtime prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
Disagreements have escalated between parties regarding who will be allowed to contest in the February polls.
Interim leader Muhammad Yunus is simultaneously attempting to push through a comprehensive package of democratic reforms.
“The chief adviser said there is no alternative to an election,“ Yunus’ press secretary Shafiqul Alam stated late Sunday.
“Any deviation from it would be extremely dangerous for the country.”
Yunus, the 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner, has been leading the caretaker government as chief adviser since the August 2024 uprising.
He held multiple meetings with key political parties on Sunday to address the ongoing tensions.
A major recent controversy involves whether the Jatiya Party, viewed as a former ally of Hasina, should be permitted to participate in the elections.
Violent clashes erupted in Dhaka on Friday when the Gono Odhikar Parishad party organised a rally demanding Jatiya’s exclusion from the polls.
Gono Odhikar Parishad party leader Nurul Haque Nur sustained serious injuries when police and military forces attempted to disperse the rally.
Jamaat-e-Islami, the primary Islamist party in the Muslim-majority nation of 170 million people, has also demanded Jatiya’s exclusion.
Hasina’s Awami League party has already been banned from participating in the upcoming elections.
Additional violent protests were reported at universities including Chittagong University, where approximately one hundred students were injured on Saturday.
Political parties have yet to reach consensus on Yunus’ efforts to establish a charter for democratic reforms.
Yunus previously stated he inherited a completely broken down system of public administration following the uprising.
He believes the system requires comprehensive overhaul to prevent any future return to authoritarian rule.
A 28-page draft proposal suggests limiting prime ministerial powers to two terms and expanding presidential authority.
Parties remain divided on whether these proposed reforms should be legally binding or even override the existing constitution. – AFP