Dhaka [Bangladesh], December 13 (ANI): The political climate in Bangladesh has intensified as the country prepares for national parliamentary elections. Sharif Osman Hadi, a prominent leader of the Inqilab Manch who had been linked with the movement against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and was a potential independent candidate for Dhaka-8, was shot on Friday and remains in critical condition. The attack has heightened political tensions.
In another major development, Tarique Rahman — son of former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia and acting chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) — is set to return to Bangladesh on December 25 after nearly 17 years in exile in London, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakrul Islam Alamgir told reporters.
Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus demanded swift arrests of those who carried out and planned the attack on Hadi. He made the call during an emergency meeting at the state guesthouse Jamuna on Friday night with members of the Advisory Council and senior officials from law enforcement and security agencies, according to the Chief Adviser’s press wing.
Yunus described the attack on Hadi as among the most alarming incidents since the interim government took office, calling it a deliberate blow to Bangladesh’s democratic progress. He said the act showed that defeated forces were willing to challenge the country’s existence and vowed the government would thwart any such attempts. Yunus characterized the incident as part of a wider conspiracy to undermine the national election and the planned referendum, declaring that no effort to sabotage the vote would be allowed and pledging to work with the public to ensure a peaceful election.
The national parliamentary election is scheduled for February 12, 2026, with a simultaneous referendum on the “July Charter” — a set of reforms inspired by the July 2024 movement against Sheikh Hasina — the Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin announced. The announcement of the timetable was quickly followed by a surge in political turbulence.
The July 2024 student-led movement sparked widespread protests against Sheikh Hasina, who left for India on August 5, 2024. An interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was then installed. Despite the election schedule, Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League remains barred from political activity and its registration has been suspended by the Election Commission; unless the ban is lifted, the party cannot contest the upcoming poll. The Awami League has rejected the announced timetable.
With Begum Khaleda Zia reportedly in poor health, the BNP is emerging as a primary political force for the election. Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, the country’s largest Islamist party, is also a key contender, and the newly formed National Citizen Party (NCP), led by the students who spearheaded the movement against Sheikh Hasina, will participate as well. These parties are actively negotiating alliances.
Ensuring a peaceful, free, fair, credible and inclusive election is a major challenge, given Bangladesh’s history of election-related violence and the heightened international scrutiny this time. India has called for the vote to be free, fair, credible, inclusive and participatory both domestically and internationally. (ANI)
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