DHAKA, Bangladesh

Bangladesh will hold national elections in the first half of April 2026, the country's interim leader Muhammad Yunus said on Friday.

The 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner has been running the administration of the South Asian nation since the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India following a student-led uprising last August.

Yunus in a televised address said reforms, justice, and elections were the three core mandates of his government.

“After reviewing the ongoing reform activities related to justice, reforms and elections, I am announcing to the people today that the next national election will be held any day in the first half of April 2026," Yunus said.

The election commission will provide a detailed roadmap at an appropriate time, he added.

He made the announcement amid growing pressure from political parties, particularly the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), to hold elections by December. Yunus has argued that time is needed for an overhaul of the country's democratic institutions after Hasina's tenure.

"One of the biggest responsibilities of this government is to ensure a transparent ... and widely participatory election so that the country does not fall into a new phase of crisis," he said.

"That is why institutional reform is of utmost importance."

Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024 after Hasina's government launched a crackdown against the protesters, according to the UN.

A special tribunal set up to try Hasina, 77, began proceedings this month on charges of crimes against humanity. She is accused of being responsible for ordering state forces to carry out actions that led to the killings and injuries during the uprising.

In an immediate reaction, the BNP said that not just his party, but the entire nation has been left disappointed by the chief adviser's announcement.

The BNP's leader and former prime minister, Khaleda Zia, was acquitted in January in a 2008 corruption case, paving the way for her to run in the next polls.

The registration of Hasina's Awami League party, meanwhile, was suspended by the election commission last month.