Zakir Hossain from Dhaka
Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus has appealed for calm after rival political parties questioned the neutrality of his cabinet ahead of national elections due in February 2026.
The polls will be the first since last year’s student-led uprising that toppled Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule.
Yunus, 85, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has “taken measures to hold free, impartial, and fair elections,” his press team said Thursday.
However, Nahid Islam, leader of the student-led National Citizen Party, alleged that “some advisers are collaborating with political parties to secure their safe exit.” He claimed party loyalists were being appointed to administrative posts.
Echoing similar concerns, Jamaat-e-Islami’s Dr Abdullah Muhammad Taher said after meeting Yunus, “Some people around you mislead you. We have confidence in you, but certain individuals close to you are working for a particular party.”
The BNP, which met Yunus on October 21, also sought removal of “controversial advisers.”
Hasina remains in New Delhi, defying court summons in her ongoing crimes against humanity trial. Her party, the Awami League, is now banned and barred from contesting elections.