Bangladesh to hold referendum on constitutional reforms on election day

DHAKA, Bangladesh

Bangladesh will hold a referendum on constitutional reforms on the same day as the national election in February next year, interim leader Muhammad Yunus said Thursday, opening the way for a bicameral legislature and the reinstatement of the caretaker administration system.

Yunus announced the decision in a national address aired on state television as political parties remained divided and staged demonstrations over the timing of the referendum.

“Our government had three main responsibilities: to prosecute the murders, to organize the necessary reforms to transition to an accountable and effective democratic system, and to hand over power to an elected government through fair election,” Yunus said.

He said the reforms are expected to play a major role in strengthening governance.

Bangladesh is scheduled to hold the next parliamentary election in the first half of February 2026.

The referendum will present four questions asking whether voters support constitutional changes, including the creation of a two-chamber parliament and the restoration of the caretaker government system for overseeing transfers of power under a neutral administration.

The former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina government had previously abolished the caretaker system, triggering sustained political controversy.

Hasina was ousted in an uprising on Aug. 5 and fled to India. According to a UN report, about 1,400 people were killed in the unrest.

President Mohammed Shahabuddin has signed the July Charter implementation, a document in which political parties agreed on constitutional reforms they said would help prevent authoritarian governance.

Yunus and major political groups, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, signed the national charter last month.