Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus is likely to announce the much awaited polls timeline on 5 August.
If the announcement does not come on 5 August, then it can be expected on 8 August, interim government sources told Stream.
While the sources that Stream spoke to could not confirm the exact date of the announcement, most leaned on August 5.
Zoom in: CA is expected to give a speech on two important dates, with sources saying the polls date would be announced.
- 5 August is the day Hasina's government fell in a mass uprising by students and the public.
- On 8 August, most of the advisers of the interim government led by Yunus were sworn in.
- A directive by the police's Special Branch (SB) on Monday revealed its concerns of "fascist" elements lurking to disrupt celebrations, flagging the period from July 29 to August 8 as particularly sensitive.
Authorities marked it as a particularly sensitive period, fearing sabotage by exiled fascist groups
Zoom out: Announcement of the polls schedule has been a long demand of political parties.
- Months after taking the helm, Yunus, during a televised speech on Victory Day, addressed elections directly for the first time.
- "Broadly speaking, the election date can be set between the end of 2025 and the first half of 2026," he said.
- Back in 2024, Bangladesh Army Chief General Waker-uz-Zaman told Reuters in an interview that a transition to democracy should be made between a year and a year-and-a-half.
- Acting Chairman of BNP Tarique Rahman said election before December was quite possible.
- In an address to the nation on 6 June, Yunus announced that the election would be held by the first half of April, 2026.
- Just a few days later, the Yunus-Tarique meeting in London discussed the possibility of the next election before the month of Ramadan 2026.
- On 9 July, the CA press wing said the CA had instructed the law enforcement agencies and other related bodies to complete the preparations for election by December 2025.
Months after taking the helm, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, during a televised speech on Victory Day, addressed elections directly for the first time.
Why 5 August
- Insiders believe that 5 August is more likely as Yunus is set to present the July Proclamation to the public on the day at 5:00pm.
- Yunus may not want to choose 8 August 8 as he doesn't want to lend too much significance to the day he formed the interim government.
- The CA had assured political parties in a meeting on 26 July that the election date would be announced soon.
Correction: The title said "CA Yunus likely to announce election date on 5 Aug: sources". This has been corrected to "CA Yunus likely to announce election timeline on 5 Aug: sources".
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