All parties certain election will be held in February: Fakhrul

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has said political parties have no doubt anymore that the next general election will be held in February 2026.

"The chief adviser's speech at the United Nations on the election was quite strong, and from what he has said in recent days about it, we, the political parties, have no doubt anymore, and we are convinced that the election will be held in February 2026," he said while talking to reporters at a hotel in New York yesterday afternoon (26 September). 

Earlier in the day, he was seen standing beside Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus while he delivered his speech at the 80th United Nations General Assembly.

Replying to a question about the Jamaat-e-Islami's campaign for proportional representation (PR), he said the BNP's stance is clear. "We are not in favour of PR in the lower house, and we have also not spoken about PR in the upper house. These are issues we can discuss and resolve later." 

In his speech, the BNP leader said the chief adviser spoke openly about why the interim government was formed and how it took responsibility when a vacuum was created after the July Uprising last year. 

"Amidst a vacuum created after the mass uprising, we, the political parties and the students, entrusted them with that responsibility," he said.

Within one year, Fakhrul said, the interim government has tried to bring the country back from a terrible situation in politics and the economy. "These points came out clearly in his speech."

He said Yunus also spoke about how his government began the work and how, through those efforts, they tried to bring the economy back to a stable state.

The BNP leader said the chief adviser also talked about calls for reforms in politics and the state structure.

Fakhrul recalled that the BNP has long been talking about reforms in politics and governance for a long time.

"You know that our leader Begum Khaleda Zia presented Vision 2030 in 2016, stressing the need for change in the state structure and politics. Similarly, our acting chairman Tarique Rahman announced a 31-point programme in 2022, also calling for changes in the state and economic structure," he said.

The BNP leader said his party realised the necessity of reforms as the Awami League had brought the country to such a situation that it would be difficult to pull the state back up without fundamental changes -- both in the state structure and in the economy.

Fakhrul praised the chief adviser for taking political parties to the UNGA with him. "We are very happy that, for the first time, he (the chief adviser) involved the opposition political parties in the government's activities and took them to the United Nations."

The BNP leader said the main objective of the chief adviser was to manifest the unity of the nation through joining the UNGA with the opposition political leaders.

"I believe this is a unique effort. In the context of Bangladesh, this was very necessary, and he has taken that initiative," he said.

Fakhrul said the BNP has extended full cooperation to the interim government.