Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus has voiced confidence that the country’s forthcoming national election will be conducted in a free, fair and transparent manner, describing it as a decisive moment after years of what he called “mock” and “fake” polls.
Addressing senior secretaries and secretaries of the government, at his office in Tejgaon on Monday, Yunus said the election — to be held alongside a constitutional referendum on 12 February — could usher in a fundamental transformation of the country’s political order.
According to his press secretary, Shafiqul Alam, Yunus told the meeting that a victory for the “Yes” vote in the referendum would ensure that misgovernance “does not return” and would place Bangladesh’s future on a more positive footing.
“If the ‘Yes’ vote wins in the referendum, Bangladesh’s future will be built in a more positive way,” Yunus said, adding that the country was “almost at its destination” with only days remaining before polling.
The chief adviser contrasted the upcoming vote with the previous three general elections held under the government of Sheikh Hasina, which he said lacked legitimacy and failed to attract credible international observers. Those polls, he argued, could “hardly be described as genuine elections”.
By contrast, Yunus said the forthcoming election would be peaceful and competitive, noting an absence of major political tension. Campaigning was taking place across the country without serious incidents, he said, and political parties were showing restraint even as large public gatherings continued.
For the first time, expatriate Bangladeshis have been formally brought into the political process, a move Yunus described as long overdue. He acknowledged the role played by the diaspora in past political movements and said their inclusion would allow them to contribute more meaningfully to national life.
Technology, he said, would play a central role in ensuring transparency. A voter guidance mobile app has been developed, while other digital tools are being used to monitor security at nearly 43,000 polling centres. Initiatives such as the “Election Bondhu” programme, the deployment of body-worn cameras to around 25,700 law enforcement personnel, and the installation of CCTV cameras at polling stations are also part of the security framework.
Yunus said the arrival of a large number of international observers from different countries reflected renewed global confidence in Bangladesh’s democratic process and showed that the election was being taken seriously by the international community.
He thanked senior civil servants for their support over the past 18 months, particularly in fast-tracking work on around 130 ordinances issued during the interim period, saying their cooperation had been crucial to the government’s functioning.
Looking beyond the election, Yunus said Bangladesh would seek to capitalise on its young population to attract global investment and expand industrial production. He pointed to the Japan-Bangladesh Economic Partnership Agreement as a model for future trade arrangements, arguing that duty-free and preferential market access would encourage foreign companies to establish factories in the country.
Bangladesh, he said, would pursue additional free trade and preferential trade agreements to open new economic opportunities and expand the reach of its exports, signalling an outward-looking economic strategy alongside what he described as a turning point in the nation’s political history.
