Bangladesh to hold elections in February 2026, says interim leader Muhammad Yunus

Bangladesh is set to hold elections in February next year, the country's interim leader Muhammad Yunus said in a statement on Tuesday. These would be the first polls in the nation after a mass students-led uprising overthrew the previous government of Sheikh Hasina. "On behalf of the interim government, I will write a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner requesting that the election be arranged before Ramadan in February 2026," Yunus said in a broadcast on the one-year anniversary of Hasina's ouster. Yunus, a caretaker leader, added he will leave the position after the vote.

Yunus, 85, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, further said in his televised address: "We will step into the final and most important phase after delivering this speech to you, and that is the transfer of power to an elected government."