The Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Thursday warned that it would be difficult for the party to continue its cooperation with the interim government unless a clear and immediate road map is announced for holding a free, fair, and neutral national election by December 2025.

The BNP standing committee at a press conference at the party chair’s office at Gulshan in Dhaka also demanded the removal of those advisers in the interim government who are allegedly affiliated — directly or indirectly — with the newly formed political party and those who were collaborators of fascism.

BNP standing committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain announced the demands.

The BNP, however, did not specifically mention the names of the advisers whose resignation it sought.

‘We demand an immediate announcement of a clear road map for forming a Jatyia Sangsad by December 2025 through a fair, free, and neutral election. A failure to do so will make it difficult for the BNP, as a party of the people, to continue its cooperation with this government,’ Mosharraf said in a written statement.

Observing that the government’s main responsibility is to hold a free and fair election, he urged the interim administration to replace its bloated advisory council with a small and function-focused body limited to day-to-day functions.

Mosharraf said that some recent activities of the interim government had given rise to public doubts about its impartiality.

He claimed that implementing the agenda of certain quarters for political gains appeared to have become part of the government’s operational strategy.

To maintain the neutrality of the interim government, the party has demanded the removal of several controversial advisers whose statements and actions have tarnished the government’s image, said the BNP leader.

‘The sole mandate of the interim government is to conduct a fair, free, and impartial national parliamentary election. However, the press secretary to the chief adviser, speaking as the government’s spokesperson, has claimed that this government has a mandate to do everything,’ Mosharraf remarked.

Citing various government statements and actions concerning the humanitarian corridor and the Chittagong Port, he said that the people of the country did not believe that the interim government had the authority to make decisions on matters of such national importance and long-term policy significance.

The BNP leader criticised the National Citizen Party’s besieging the Election Commission, calling it embarrassing and counterproductive amid ongoing talks on reforms.

‘Although the Election Commission was formed through a lawful process involving a search committee, a faction is now demanding its reconstitution, which the BNP views as unjustified,’ Mosharraf said.

He claimed that the Election Commission was being unfairly and unjustly questioned for issuing a gazette notification in line with the court’s verdict concerning the mayor of the Dhaka South City Corporation.

He expressed the hope that the government would soon take steps to conduct the swearing-in of Ishraque Hossain as mayor, in compliance with the rulings of the Election Tribunal and the High Court.

Mosharraf also said that it had recently been observed that the government tended to act only under pressure rather than taking timely action in line with public expectations.

He went on to say that this culture had already undermined the government’s competence and dignity, while encouraging others to adopt similar tactics to push their demands.

‘We believe that the government is fully responsible for this undesirable and embarrassing situation,’ he added.

Among the standing committee members, Abdul Moyeen Khan, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, and Salahuddin Ahmed were present at the press conference.

Earlier, on the day, the BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi in a separate press conference at the party’s central office at Nayapaltan in the city demanded the removal of National Security Adviser Khalilur Rahman, accusing him of making inappropriate remarks about the party’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman.