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Bangladesh's Yunus calls surprise advisory council meeting amid resignation buzz: Report
The surprise meeting comes hours before Muhammad Yunus is scheduled to meet leaders of top political parties in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh’s interim government chief adviser Muhammad Yunus on Saturday called an unscheduled meeting of the advisory council as political crisis in the country deepens, PTI news agency reported, citing local media reports.
“He is likely to sit with the Advisers (effectively ministers) shortly after the ECNEC (Executive Committee of the National Economic Council) meeting, which is underway as scheduled,” the report cited the UNB news agency, quoting an unnamed official familiar with the process. It did not give any further details.
Yunus resignation buzz
The surprise meeting comes hours before Yunus is scheduled to meet leaders of top political parties in Bangladesh. The slew of meetings also comes days after Yunus reportedly threatened to quit.
His press secretary, Shafiqul Alam, told AFP that Yunus would meet leaders of the powerful Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami. No agenda for the talks has been released.
"He is meeting BNP and Jamaat leaders this evening," Alam told AFP.
BNP media official Shairul Kabir Khan also confirmed the meeting, saying that senior party members will be present.
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Jamaat-e-Islami's media spokesperson Ataur Rahman Sarkar also confirmed that they were invited, according to AFP.
Yunus, who assumed office following a mass uprising in Bangladesh last year, has reportedly threatened to resign if political parties fail to support him.
Meanwhile, an adviser in Yunus' cabinet said that he will remain as the head of Bangladesh’s interim government.
"He (Yunus) didn't say he will leave. He said that while we face many obstacles in carrying out the work and responsibilities assigned to us, we are overcoming them,” Planning Adviser Wahiduddin Mahmud told reporters after the unscheduled meeting of the advisory council.
Mahmud added: “He (Yunus) is definitely staying."
Political crisis in Bangladesh
Bangladesh's political crisis escalated this week, with rival parties protesting on the streets of the capital Dhaka, with a string of competing demands.
Thousands of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) supporters marched in Dhaka on Thursday, demanding a firm election date.
Yunus has promised that polls will be held in Bangladesh by June 2026 at the latest, but BNP supporters have been demanding that he fix a date.
Yunus's relationship with the military has also reportedly deteriorated, with the Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman saying that elections should be held by December.
A cabinet member and special adviser to the Nobel laureate on Friday said that Yunus "needs to remain" in office as interim leader to ensure a peaceful transition of power.
"For the sake of Bangladesh and a peaceful democratic transition, Professor Yunus needs to remain in office," Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, a special assistant to Yunus, and head of the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, said in a post on Facebook.
"The chief adviser is not going to step down," he added. “He does not hanker after power.”
