Govt, political parties to fix election timeframe: UN envoy

United Nations Residential Coordinator in Dhaka Gwen Lewis has categorically said that the timeframe of the next general election will be determined by the incumbent government and the political parties.

“We are ready to extend our technical support to hold the election in a free, fair and credible manner but we don’t want to make any comment over the election timeframe,” Lewis told reporters after emerging from a meeting with Foreign Secretary Md Jashim Uddin, in Dhaka on Tuesday.

Earlier, Lewis held the meeting with the foreign secretary, accompanied by an expert UN delegation visiting Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, while addressing a press conference this noon urged the interim government to arrange the next national election by August this year for the greater interest of the country.

“We held a meeting with the Election Commission and assured them of our support based on their requirements. Our survey team is actively working for this purpose,” he said.

The survey team is scheduled to arrive in Chattogram tomorrow, where they will hold meetings with stakeholders, including political parties, civil society members and experts within the sector and later they will present their progress reports, she said.

Responding to a query, she said they have only been asked to extend their support to hold the upcoming parliamentary election in Bangladesh in a free and fair manner.

Noble Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus took charge of the country on 8 August against the backdrop of the student-led July-August mass upsurge that ensured the unceremonious fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led autocratic regime.

Nearly a month ago, in his address to the nation, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus said that the 13th parliamentary election will either be held at the end of 2025 or in early 2026.

However, the BNP and other political parties have rejected the timeframe and started mounting pressure on the incumbent management to hold the national election as early as possible.

Eventually, BNP leader Fakhrul on Tuesday said that there is no alternative but to hold the national election by the middle of the current year.

He also urged the government, Election Commission and all political parties to arrange the national election by July-August of this year for the greater interest of the country’s smooth democratic continuation.