Army Chief General Zaman vs Chief Adviser Prof Yunus: Power struggle in Bangladesh over timing of election

The Hindu

23-05-2025

Two months after announcing election, the interim government of Bangladesh is indicating that it may not be in a position to hold election by December 2025.
This apprehension was part of a discussion at the council of advisers that Chief Adviser Prof Mohammed Yunus held late Thursday (May 22, 2025) night after Army Chief Waker Uz Zaman held a closed door meeting with Commanding Officers on Wednesday (May 21, 2025) where he expressed unhappiness over the functioning of the interim government and said, 'Elections must be held by December and that only an elected government should determine the nation's course and not an unelected administration'.
Addressing the Commanding Officers in Wednesday's meeting, Army Chief General Waker Uz Zaman said certain policies of the interim government were not part of the understanding on which the interim government was configured after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government last August.
It was learned that General Waker Uz Zaman expressed serious concern over 'key decisions' of the interim government and claimed that the Armed Forces of Bangladesh were not briefed before taking those decisions. The stock taking meeting of the army chief came in the backdrop of fast paced decisions that the Yunus administration has taken reportedly to open a 'humanitarian corridor' to the Rakhine province of Myanmar. At a certain point during the meeting, it was mentioned that the officer corps stands united in support of General Zaman and that they are ready to 'act upon command'.
The military meet also took note of the interim government's decision to introduce a school pledge that removed mention of the Liberation War prompting a Commanding Officer (CO) to say that the 'Liberation war legacy and national prestige are non-negotiable.'
Responding to the criticism in the military meet, Prof Yunus called for an unscheduled meeting of the Council of Advisers of the interim administration on Thursday (May 22, 2025). According to sources in Dhaka, during the meeting, Prof Yunus expressed frustration about the evolving situation and discussed with his colleagues whether there is a need for him to continue as the Chief Adviser to the interim government.
He said that under the present circumstances only a 'controlled election' can be held and that fully transparent election is not possible by December this year. At one point, reportedly a draft speech for the nation was prepared with Prof Yunus indicating that he would resign. However, the advisers prevailed in this discussion and said, leaving the responsibility of governance at this stage would land Bangladesh in a more volatile situation and the responsibility of this chaos would fall on Yunus himself.
A major point of contention between Prof Yunus-led advisers and the powerful military establishment is the initiative to establish a so called 'humanitarian corridor' connecting Chittagong with Myanmar's Rakhine province.
The argument of the Yunus administration is that the 'humanitarian corridor' will provide medicines and other necessary items for the conflict-torn Rakhine which is known as the centre of the Rohingya crisis. It has also been suggested that the corridor will turn into a security threat as it is difficult to ensure proper management of such an initiative as most of Rakhine known for drugs and weapons smuggling has been taken over by the insurgent group Arakan Army which is fighting both the military forces of Myanmar as well as the Rohingya militants. The Hindu has learnt that the idea of the corridor was 'unequivocally' rejected by General Waker Uz Zaman in Wednesday's meeting who described it as 'completely unacceptable' because of the security risks involved.