Bangladesh’s Yunus says he will step down after polls

LONDON: Bangladesh interim leader Muhammad Yunus said Wednesday that there was “no way” he wanted to continue in power after elections he has announced for April, the first since a mass uprising overthrew the government.

The South Asian nation of around 170 million people has been in political turmoil since a student-led revolt ousted then prime minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024, ending her 15-year rule.

Speaking in London, Yunus, asked if he himself was seeking any political post, the 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner said there was “no way,” waving his hands in the air for emphasis. “I think none of our cabinet members would like to do that, not only me,” he said.

Yunus was answering questions after speaking at London’s foreign policy think tank Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs.

He also said he wanted to unveil a “big package” of proposals next month that he dubbed a “July Charter” -- one year on since the students launched the demonstrations that toppled Hasina.

The aim of the package, he added, was to overhaul democratic institutions after Hasina’s tenure.

“We want to say goodbye to the old Bangladesh and create a new Bangladesh,” Yunus said.

The charter is being drafted by a government “consensus commission,” talking to political parties to “find that which are the recommendations they will accept,” he added.

Yunus has long said elections will be held before June 2026, but says the more time the interim administration had to enact reforms, the better.

But after political parties jostling for power repeatedly demanded he fix a timetable, he said earlier this month that elections would be held in April 2026.

“Our job is to make sure that the transition is managed well, and that people are happy when we hand over power to the elected government,” he said.

“So we want to make sure that the election is right, that is a very critical factor for us. If the election is wrong, this thing will never be solved again.”

Yunus is also expected to meet in London with Tarique Rahman, acting chairman of Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which is widely seen as likely to sweep the elections.

Rahman, 59, the son of former prime minister Khaleda Zia, has lived in London since 2008 after being sentenced in absentia under Hasina -- convictions since quashed. He is widely expected to return to Dhaka to lead the party in polls.