Trending: Tumultuous Bangladesh On The Verge Of Erupting Again; Army Warned Yunus To Hold Elections

On 5 August 2024, Bangladesh witnessed an unprecedented mass uprising led by 26-year-old Nahid Islam, which began as a student protest and swiftly led to the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina government.

After her ouster, Sheikh Hasina fled to India.

Hasina’s flee left a huge power vacuum in Bangladesh, as she had held power for the last fifteen years.

Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus stepped in to lead the interim government, backed by rising political activist Nahid Islam, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Bangladesh Army.

Later in February 2025, Nahid founded the National Citizen Party (NCP).

Sheikh Hasina’s exit from the nation left the party, Awami League, supporters in the lurch.

The Yunus-led government was accused of arresting Awami League activists and supporters.

Apart from this, a case was also filed against former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in connection with the death of a grocery shopkeeper during the violent clashes.

The Yunus-led government has banned the Awami League and is now seeking her extradition from India.

Yunus Mounting The Growing Criticism

Yunus rose to power as a beacon of reforms and promised them to the people of Bangladesh.

However, with the time and his inability to win consensus on election reforms and other issues, the restlessness among the citizens and the supporters to witness what promised increased, leading to tensions between Yunus and the Army Chief Waker-uz-Zaman.

The differences between Yunus and Zaman became so deep that the discussion of Yunus’s resignation started gaining momentum.

Zaman has sternly warned the Yunus administration to hold national elections by December this year.

Meanwhile, the BNP has voiced displeasure over the election delay, supposed to take place by June 2025, as stated by Interim Chief Yunus a few months ago.

“If the government fails to meet public expectations, it will be difficult for the BNP to continue extending its support,” senior BNP leader Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain said.

“The highest priority should be placed on announcing a clear roadmap for the election,” he added.

BNP has also been staging large-scale protests in Dhaka, demanding the immediate swearing-in of its mayoral candidate.

The party claims that the interim government has obstructed an Election Commission ruling that declared Ishraque Hossain as the rightful winner of the disputed 2020 mayoral elections.

At the time, the BNP alleged that the now-banned Awami League had rigged the polls.

The Resignation Card

The country, home to roughly 170 million people, has been in political unrest since a student-led uprising ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024.

Protests have continued as various parties press for democratic reforms and swift elections.

Amid growing unrest and criticism from his supporters and the military, Yunus has expressed disappointment and signalled his intent to step down as Interim Chief.

Yunus chaired a two-hour long unscheduled meeting of the Advisory Council at the Planning Commission office in Dhaka on Saturday afternoon amid increasing political tensions and growing speculation over the stability and continuity of the interim government which had also reportedly led to him offering resignation from the post of Chief Advisor.

However, officials have yet to confirm the news. If I am unable to work freely, I should not hold the power, Yunus said.

Nahid Islam, who met Yunus on 22 May, told BBC Bangla later in the day that Yunus was actually considering resignation.

Meanwhile, a cabinet member and special adviser to Yunus said on Friday that Yunus needs to remain in office as interim leader to ensure a peaceful transition of power.

“For the sake of Bangladesh and a peaceful democratic transition, Professor Yunus needs to remain in office,” Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, a special assistant to Yunus and head of the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, said in a post on Facebook.”

“The chief adviser is not going to step down,” he said, adding, “He does not hanker after power.”

Now we’ll see whether he’s using his resignation card to pressure his supporters or genuinely plans to step down.

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