Yunus wants reforms to proceed with sights set on national election between December-June

Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus has urged the National Consensus Commission to swiftly advance reform initiatives to hold the general election sometime between December this year to July the next.

Yunus met with the commission's Vice-Chairman Ali Riaz and member Badiul Alam Majumdar at the State Guest House Jamuna on Saturday, according to a statement from the Chief Adviser’s Office (CAO).

Initially, the statement said Yunus had asked the commission to work towards reforms aiming for December polls, but later sent a correction.

Following the fall of the Awami League government in the face of a student-led mass uprising in August, an interim government headed by Yunus took charge and brought together 11 reform commissions to drive state reform initiatives.

Aiming to bring 38 political parties and the public to an agreement on the reforms, the Consensus Commission, led by Yunus, began dialogues with the parties on Mar 20 in the first phase to review recommendations forwarded by six reform panels.

The BNP, alongside several other parties, has demanded the parliamentary election be held as soon as possible after the essential reforms are complete.

The National Citizen Party, comprising leaders of the July Uprising, and several other parties prioritised the completion of all reforms before the general election was held.

Yunus said the election would be held in December if the political parties agreed to a few reforms before the parliamentary polls.

If the parties agree that all reforms must be carried out first, the election would be held by June next year, he added.

According to the statement from the CAO, Riaz and Badiul told Yunus about the progress of the Consensus Commission on Saturday.

The commission held dialogues with eight political parties until now, with a meeting with the BNP scheduled for Thursday, Apr 17.

On Wednesday, BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed said the party will meet Yunus on Apr 16 to request a roadmap for the next general election.

“We will demand a roadmap from the chief advisor before December,” he added. “This is so that he clearly presents it to the nation through the proper process to address the uncertainty and instability felt by the nation, bring stability to politics, and revitalise economic activities.

“We would say that this is enough time,” he said.

Referring to discussions with the Election Commission (EC), Salahuddin said: “It [the Election Commission] will be able to complete all preparations within June, and the chief advisor has earlier assured us that all activities for holding the elections within December are being carried out.”

“As conflicting statements from different parties have caused confusion, we will urge him to clear these issues,” he added.

On Saturday, the consensus commission told Yunus that multiple awareness campaigns were under way to assess public views on reforms.