Election will be held on time, CA tells US special envoy

Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus on Monday reiterated his commitment to holding the general election on 12 February.

"The nation is eagerly waiting to exercise their voting rights, which were stolen by the autocratic regime," he said.

Prof Yunus made the remarks during a telephone conversation with Sergio Gor, the US special envoy for South and Central Asia, around 7:30pm (Bangladesh time).

The discussion, which lasted about half an hour, focused on trade and tariff negotiations between Bangladesh and the United States, the upcoming parliamentary polls, the country’s democratic transition, and the murder of young Bangladeshi political activist Sharif Osman Hadi.

Sergio Gor, who also serves as the US ambassador to India, congratulated Prof Yunus for his leadership during recent tariff negotiations. Bangladesh succeeded in reducing US reciprocal tariffs on Bangladeshi goods to 20%.

The US special envoy also discussed the massive funeral of Shaheed Osman Hadi.

The chief adviser noted that supporters of the ousted autocratic regime were allegedly spending millions of dollars to disrupt the electoral process and that their fugitive leader was inciting violence.

However, Prof Yunus said the interim government was “fully prepared” to deal with any challenges. “We have roughly 50 days to go before the election. We want to hold a free, fair and peaceful election. We want to make it remarkable,” he added.

Commerce Adviser Sk Bashir Uddin, National Security Adviser Khalilur Rahman, and SDG Coordinator and Senior Secretary Lamiya Morshed were present during the call.