Bangladesh: Jamaat, allies slam Yunus for giving ‘flimsy reasons’ to hold election and referendum simultaneously

Dhaka: As political tensions intensify in Bangladesh, the radical Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami has accused the interim government’s Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus of creating confusion by announcing that national elections and referendum would be held simultaneously in the first half of February 2026, local media reported. In his address to the people of Bangladesh on Thursday, Yunus said, “The referendum will take place in the first half of February, simultaneously with the general election.

This will not in any way hinder the goals of reform; rather, it will make the election more festive and cost-effective.” Following the announcement, Jamaat-e-Islami leader Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher, speaking on behalf of the eight-party alliance at a press briefing on Thursday night in Dhaka, condemned the decision and called for its immediate withdrawal. “For the charter to be effective, the referendum must be held before the national election.

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But he has again created confusion by saying that the referendum and the election will be held together. We condemn this and call upon him to withdraw the statement,” Bangladesh’s leading newspaper, The Daily Star, quoted the Jamaat leader as saying. Taher further said, “The Chief Advisor gave two flimsy reasons — that holding the election and referendum together would save some money. Yes, it may save a little, but state budgets are meant for national needs.

The expenditure in this case is negligible compared to the benefits to the nation.” He added that protest rallies would continue across Bangladesh as part of the eight-Islamist parties’ simultaneous movement to press home their five-point demands, including holding a referendum before the polls and issuing an order to implement the July Charter. Reacting to the announcement, Jamaat Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar said that holding the national election and the referendum on the same day could spark a new political crisis. “By announcing the national election and the referendum on the same day, the government has ignored the people’s demand.

We want to make it very clear that this announcement has not fulfilled the aspirations of the people,” Porwar stated. Earlier on Tuesday, eight radical Islamist parties warned that the polls cannot take place without granting legal recognition to the July charter, local media reported. Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Andolon are among the eight like-minded parties that have raised this demand.

Amid the escalating political conflict, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) proposes holding the referendum alongside the national elections in February 2026, while Jamaat and other Islamist parties are hell-bent on holding it before the polls. Bangladesh continues to face growing uncertainty and political turmoil ahead of next year’s election. The parties that earlier collaborated with Yunus to overthrow the democratically-elected government of the Awami League led by Sheikh Hasina, remain at loggerheads over reform proposals.