Salauddin Ahmed, a senior BNP leader, has stated that the interim leader of the country, Muhammad Yunus, went theatrical when the party called upon him to have elections by December. A senior leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has stated that the interim leader of the nation, Muhammad Yunus, went theatrical when the party called on him to conduct elections by December.
At a Dhaka rally on Wednesday, BNP Standing Committee member Salauddin Ahmed said the party desired an election plan from Yunus but the interim ruler instead chose to make a resignation bid.
“But he made a resignation drama. We sought elections by December. We are appealing to all to join us in demanding a neutral government, democracy, and free and fair elections. Let us all work to make Bangladesh first and foremost with Tarique Rahman as the leader. The future Bangladesh will be new,” Ahmed said in a statement to Business Standard newspaper of Bangladesh.
The development came days after Yunus, the unelected leader of Bangladesh supported by agitating forces and the military last year, threatened resignation over calls for early elections. He has insisted that institutional changes, not elections, are his top priority.
Such misplaced priorities have, however, created a scenario in which even those political parties which initially stood for the removal of Sheikh Hasina have turned against Yunus. He has also become entangled in a battle with the country’s influential army chief, General Waker-Uz-Zaman. Whereas Zaman has demanded early elections like the majority of the country’s mainstream politicians, Yunus has attempted to create a coup within the army by lending strength to Zaman’s pro-Pakistan rival group.
