I was abroad for a fortnight. In Australia’s Sydney and Melbourne, among the Bangladeshis I met, the first anxious question on everyone’s lips was: will there be an election at all? Later, however, certain developments back home convinced them that there is no alternative to an election. In particular, after Tarique Rahman’s return to the country, most people have assumed that the election will indeed be held within the stipulated timeframe.

It may be recalled that the decision to hold the 13th Jatiya Sangsad (national parliament) election in the first half of February 2026 was taken at a meeting in London between Tarique Rahman and interim government’s chief adviser Muhammad Yunus.

In Sydney, I spoke with several expatriate Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leaders. Some of them have already returned home, while others are preparing to do so in order to work in their respective constituencies for their party candidates. Their interest lies less in voting by postal ballot and more in ensuring the victory of their party nominees on the ground.