People think interim govt still a good answer for them but polls won't cross June '26: CA Yunus tells Al Jazeera

Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus has said the people of Bangladesh think that the interim government is still a "good answer" for them but stressed that they will not go beyond June 2026 to hold the best election ever in the country.

"They're not saying let the interim government go, have the election today… We have not faced any such problem of people saying that hand it [power] over as soon as possible'," he told Al Jazeera in an interview at its headquarters in Doha during his recent visit there. The video interview was released on 27 April.

Yunus made the remarks when he was asked whether the "honeymoon period" for the interim government was over.

He reiterated that the timeline of the national election will depend on how many reforms all agree or disagree on.

If the consensus is on a larger number of reforms, then it will take longer. "If we can focus on a smaller version of the [reform] implementation, then we will have an early election in December," Yunus said.

"However, if the process takes longer, we go up to June, but we will not go beyond June," he said, promising that the next election will be the best ever election in the country's history.

Asked if the Awami League will be allowed to take part in the polls, Yunus said, "We don't know yet, they [AL] have not declared anything."

He said once the declaration comes, then the matter of the response from the Election Commission and other factors will arise. "Then there are other parties who may say that under this law they cannot participate and so on," he added.

The chief adviser said he does not think India has given him a "cold shoulder" and stressed that Bangladesh-India relationship should be one of the best relationships that two nations can have together.

"I will not say cold shoulder. It's maybe a temporary thing… something we have to resolve together. I'll not take this as a final thing; it's not something long-lasting," he said when asked whether India has given him a cold shoulder, and he is deepening ties with Pakistan as an alternative.

The chief adviser said friendship is the key to live together and move together. "I will keep on insisting on how to bring people together in the neighborhood of Bangladesh."

Asked if Yunus decided to visit China first deliberately before India and whether he was sending a message, the chief adviser said he was visiting countries where he would like to go. 

"I tried to go to India, but they didn't respond to it. So, I went to China, and now I'll go to Malaysia," he said.

Talking about Bangladesh's relationship with the Trump administration, Yunus said his government has a very good, strong, and warm relationship with the Trump administration.

Asked if he saw the US as a reliable partner or was he being forced to choose between Beijing and Washington DC, Yunus said, "No, this is not a question of choice, they're all our friends. The USA is a good friend, China is a good friend, and India is a good friend."

Asked about deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina's claim that she is still the "rightful prime minister" and how the government viewed her presence in India, Yunus said he had a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok recently.

"I made it very clear that, okay if you [Modi] want to keep her that is probably not something that I can settle with you, but definitely while she's there, she should not be talking because it creates a lot of problems for us. She's giving speeches to incite people inside of Bangladesh, and we have to suffer from that," Yunus said.

Asked about Modi's response, Yunus said, "If I recollect, he said that [India] is a country where social media is open to anybody. I cannot control that."

Asked if he thought India was offering Sheikh Hasina political cover, should she face justice back home, Yunus said, "We have already sent a letter to the Indian government to send her to Bangladesh. They have not responded yet, but when the legal procedures begin, the court will give the notice."

The chief adviser also said, "This is one of the cases that we have to resolve ourselves … we understand what their legal situation is, what our legal situation is. But we are waiting for the legal notice from the court."

Yunus said foreign governments are helping Bangladesh so that it could get back its money laundered abroad.