Bangladesh chief adviser Muhammad Yunus on Friday announced that the national elections will be held in April next year. The beleaguered leader made the announcement, stating that the detailed roadmap will be shared at an appropriate time. Yunus made the announcement in a televised address on the occasion of Eid-Al-Azha.
Elections to be held in April 2026
The announcement of polls will bring an end to the uncertainty and unrest that has been continuing since last year, when former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government was toppled and she fled the country following massive student protests.
“After reviewing the ongoing reforms related to justice, governance, and the electoral process, I am announcing to the nation today that the next national election will be held on any day in the first half of April 2026,” Yunus was quoted by Times of India as saying.
‘Sheikh Mujib’s freedom fighter status has not been revoked’
On June 4, Bangladesh’s interim government clarified that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s freedom fighter status has not been revoked.
A few days ago, the government issued an ordinance amending the National Freedom Fighters Council, Jamuka Act, defining a new definition of a heroic freedom fighter.
“Sheikh Mujib’s freedom fighter status has not been revoked despite the amendment of the Jamuka Act,” Azad Majumder, deputy press secretary to the Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, told ANI.
Bangladeshi media reported that Mujibnagar government leaders, including Sheikh Mujib, had their freedom fighter status revoked, but the government clarified that Mujibnagar government leaders, including Mujib, will remain freedom fighters.
‘Those who fought the liberation war with arms were freedom fighters’
Adviser to the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs, Faruk-e-Azam, said that those who were in the Mujibnagar government were also freedom fighters. Those who fought the liberation war with arms and those who led it were freedom fighters. However, the officials and employees of that government were associates of the liberation war.
He said that according to the Jamuka Ordinance, diplomats including the Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra are associate freedom fighters. Associate does not mean that their honour has been tarnished.
There are four categories of freedom fighters: first, those Bangladeshi professionals who made special contributions to the liberation war abroad and played an active role in shaping world public opinion.
