DHAKA: As political conflict continues to mount in Bangladesh, the Democratic Left Alliance (LDA) accused the interim government's Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus of pushing the nation towards a long-term crisis in an attempt to appease the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), radical Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami and National Citizen Party (NCP), local media reported.
The remarks came after Yunus, in a recent address to the nation, announced that national elections and a referendum would be held simultaneously in the first half of February 2026.
In a statement, the LDA--an alliance of six leftist parties --alleged that Yunus' announcement regarding the implementation order of the July Charter, the referendum, and the Constitution Reform Council was "one-sided and unconstitutional". "There is no provision in the constitution for issuing such an order [July charter order] or holding a referendum. The president can only issue ordinances," Bangladesh's leading newspaper, The Daily Star quoted the LDA as saying.
The alliance said Yunus' speech also failed to mention the parties' notes of dissent and argued that his claim of consensus among all political parties on 30 out of 48 proposals related to the constitution during dialogues with the consensus commission was inaccurate. (IANS)
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