Bangladesh's Yunus in crisis talks with rival parties as Dhaka protests escalate over election timing
DHAKA, May 24 — Bangladesh's interim leader, who took over after a mass uprising last year, will meet powerful parties pressuring his government later today, days after he reportedly threatened to quit.
Muhammad Yunus, the 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner who leads the caretaker government as its chief adviser until elections are held, has called for rival political parties jostling for power to give him their full support.
His press secretary Shafiqul Alam confirmed Yunus would meet leaders of the powerful Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), as well as leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami, the Muslim-majority nation's largest Islamist party.
'He is meeting BNP and Jamaat leaders this evening,' Alam told AFP.
No agenda for the talks has been released.
But the BNP, seen as the front-runners in elections, are pushing heavily for polls to be held by December. They would be the first elections since a student-led revolt forced then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina to flee in August 2024.
Microfinance pioneer Yunus, who has led the country after returning from exile at the behest of protesters, says he has a duty to implement democratic reforms before elections.
Yunus has said polls could be held as early as December, but that holding them later — with a deadline of June — would give more time for those changes.
'Reconsider our support'
The South Asian nation of around 170 million people has been in political turmoil since Hasina fled, but this week has seen an escalation with rival parties protesting on the streets of the capital Dhaka with a string of competing demands.
'Our senior members will be there for the talks,' said BNP media official Shairul Kabir Khan.
Jamaat-e-Islami's media spokesperson Ataur Rahman Sarkar also confirmed that they were invited.
On Thursday, a political ally and sources in his office said Yunus had threatened to resign if Bangladesh's parties and factions did not back him.
That came a day after BNP supporters held large-scale protests against the interim government for the first time demanding an election date.
'If he is unable to announce a specific election date by December, we will reconsider our support for his administration,' senior BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed said in an interview on a private TV channel broadcast on Friday.
According to local media and military sources, army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman this week also said that elections should be held by December — aligning with BNP demands.
Bangladesh has a long history of military coups, and the army retains a powerful role in the country.
'Trying to assume power'
Jamaat-e-Islami loyalists have also protested against the government, demanding the abolition of a women's commission seeking equality.
Nahid Islam, leader of the National Citizen Party — made up of many of the students who spearheaded the uprising against Hasina — said his party meanwhile wanted later elections to give time for change.
The students wanted 'fundamental reforms' to Bangladesh's system of governance, Islam, an ally of Yunus, told reporters on Friday, according to the Prothom Alo newspaper.
But he said rival parties considered the overthrow of Hasina to be 'regime change and are trying to assume power' under the existing constitution.
'There are efforts to create an unstable situation in the country,' Islam added. 'We must remain united and not fall into the trap.'
Hasina, 77, remains in self-imposed exile in India.
She has defied an arrest warrant to face trial for crimes against humanity related to last year's police crackdown on protesters during which at least 1,400 were killed. — AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Free Malaysia Today
15 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Pakistan likely to hike defence spending but slash overall budget
Analysts said they expect Pakistan to increase its defence budget by around 20%, likely offset by cuts in development spending. (EPA Images pic) ISLAMABAD : Pakistan will unveil its annual federal budget for the coming fiscal year later today, seeking to kickstart growth while finding resources for an expected hike in defence expenditure following the conflict with India last month. Islamabad will also have to contend with remaining within the discipline of its International Monetary Fund programme and the uncertainty from new trade tariffs being imposed by the US, its biggest export market. Media reports say the government is likely to present a Rs17.6 trillion (US$62.45 billion) budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, down 6.7% from this fiscal year. It has projected a fiscal deficit of 4.8% of GDP, against a targeted 5.9% deficit in 2024-25, the reports say. Analysts said they expect an increase of around 20% in the defence budget, likely offset by cuts in development spending. Pakistan allocated Rs2.1 trillion (US$7.45 billion) for defence in the outgoing fiscal year, including US$2 billion for equipment and other assets. An additional Rs563 billion (US$1.99 billion) was set aside for military pensions, which are not counted within the official defence budget. India's defence spending in its 2025–26 (April-March) fiscal year was set at US$78.7 billion, a 9.5% increase from the previous year, including pensions and US$21 billion earmarked for equipment. It has indicated it will step up expenditure following the May conflict with Pakistan. The government of Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has projected 4.2% economic growth in 2025-26, saying it has steadied the economy, which had looked at risk of defaulting on its debts as recently as 2023. Growth this fiscal year is likely to be 2.7%, against an initial target of 3.6% set in the budget last year. Pakistan's growth lags far behind the region. In 2024, South Asian countries grew by an average of 5.8% and 6.0% growth is expected in 2025, according to the Asian Development Bank. Rate cuts not enough Expansion of the economy should be aided by a sharp drop in the cost of borrowing, the government says, after a succession of interest rate cuts by the central bank. However, economists warn that monetary policy alone may not be enough, with fiscal constraints and IMF-mandated reforms still weighing on investment. Finance minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said yesterday that he wanted to avoid Pakistan's boom and bust cycles of the past. 'The macroeconomic stability that we have achieved, we want to absolutely stay the course,' he said. 'This time around we are very, very clear that we do not want to squander the opportunity,' he added. The budget is expected to prioritise expanding the tax base, enforcing agriculture income tax laws, and reducing government subsidies to industry, to meet the terms of a US$7 billion IMF bailout signed last summer. Just 1.3% of the population paid income tax in 2024, according to the tax authorities, with agriculture and the retail sector largely outside of the tax net. The IMF has urged Pakistan to widen the tax base through reforms which include taxing agriculture, retail, and real estate. Ahmad Mobeen, senior economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said that he expected the revenue target for 2025-2026 will be missed. 'The shortfall will mostly be owing to lack of optimal implementation of announced measures as well as absence of meaningful structural reforms to widen the tax net in general,' said Mobeen.
Free Malaysia Today
2 days ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Why target netizens over comments on PKR polls, says Rafizi
Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli claimed that the actions taken against the social media users were a form of intimidation. PETALING JAYA : Pandan MP Rafizi Ramli has questioned the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and police for taking action against several netizens who had commented on PKR's recently concluded party polls. Rafizi said he received numerous complaints from members of the public, who claimed they were being subject to various actions by the MCMC after posting comments on the PKR elections on social media. He said some of them were told that their content breached the law, while others were approached by MCMC and police officers for a 'meeting'. Some were also formally notified that they were under investigation and had their smartphones as well as SIM cards confiscated. Rafizi, who lost his PKR deputy presidency in last month's elections, claimed that most of the content under probe were simply people's personal views on the party polls, and did not breach any law. 'After going through these complaints, my view is that this is a form of intimidation to pressure the public so they would refrain from posting content on the PKR elections. 'I believe Prime Minister (and PKR president) Anwar Ibrahim and communications minister Fahmi Fadzil did not issue such an order. 'Perhaps there are certain characters, using the names of ministers, who ordered the MCMC or police to pressure the public, just because they had different views on the party elections,' he said in a statement. Rafizi, the Pandan PKR chief, urged the authorities to cease from carrying out any further action against the netizens involved. He said several lawyers have volunteered to represent the social media users pro bono to challenge the actions taken by the authorities. Rafizi had lost the PKR deputy president's post to Nurul Izzah Anwar last month, and later resigned as economy minister. He is currently on leave and will officially vacate his minister's post on June 17.
Free Malaysia Today
2 days ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Tiong orders pullout from Sibu association over ‘interference' by politician
PDP president Tiong King Sing accused the political party involved of being arrogant and stubborn, and its leaders of being obsessed with power and position. (Bernama pic) PETALING JAYA : Progressive Democratic Party president Tiong King Sing has ordered party members to withdraw from a Chinese association in Sibu, Sarawak, over an unnamed politician's interference in the association's elections. Tiong claimed to have received numerous complaints about the political party leader's actions in the election of the Sibu Chinese Community Leaders Association's committee members. He did not name the party nor the leader, but gave a hint that it might be a party associated with PDP by questioning whether the party in question would be able to win future elections on its own 'without the support of allied parties'. Tiong said the politician was trying to manipulate the association's elections using his political influence. Tiong claimed he had evidence that the political party had issued instructions about the association's elections. Tiong, who is vice-chairman of the state's ruling coalition Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), warned against treating community leadership positions as political assets. 'This is my final warning. The political party in question has utterly failed to uphold the ideals of power-sharing and inclusiveness,' he said in a Facebook post. 'We do not need their so-called 'mercy' nor are we interested in being part of a body that has become another political stage for a party.' Tiong said the role of community leaders was to serve the public, and such leadership posts should never be the subject of a power struggle among political parties. He accused the other party's leaders of being obsessed with power and position. 'They bicker endlessly over trivial matters and seek to monopolise social resources and political capital,' he said. 'Their behaviour is nothing short of disgraceful.' PDP is a component of GPS, along with Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu, Parti Rakyat Sarawak, and the Sarawak United People's Party (SUPP). PDP and SUPP leaders have clashed multiple times in recent years, particularly after the former accepted Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) leaders and members en bloc last year. PSB, led by Wong Soon Koh until its dissolution, is a splinter of SUPP.
