December 23, 2025
DHAKA – Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus today reiterated his commitment to holding the 13th National Election on February 12 next year as scheduled.
“The nation is eagerly waiting to exercise their voting rights which were stolen by the autocratic regime,” he said.
Prof Yunus made the remark during a telephone conversation with Sergio Gor, US special envoy for South and Central Asia, at around 7:30pm (Bangladesh time).
The discussion, which lasted about half an hour, focused on trade and tariff negotiations between Bangladesh and the United States, the upcoming general election, the country’s democratic transition, and the killing of July Movement frontliner Sharif Osman Hadi.
Gor, who also serves as the US ambassador to India, congratulated Prof Yunus for his leadership during recent tariff negotiations, where Bangladesh succeeded in reducing US reciprocal tariffs on its goods to 20 percent.
He also discussed the state funeral of Osman Hadi, which drew massive crowds.
During the conversation, the chief adviser noted that supporters of the ousted autocratic regime were allegedly spending millions of dollars to disrupt the electoral process and that their fugitive leader [deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina] was inciting violence.
He said the interim government is fully prepared to deal with any challenges.
“We have roughly 50 days to go before the election. We want to hold a free, fair and peaceful election. We want to make it remarkable,” Prof Yunus added.
Commerce Adviser Sk Bashir Uddin, National Security Adviser Khalilur Rahman, and SDG Coordinator and Senior Secretary Lamiya Morshed were present during the call.