Election, referendum to be held on same day: Yunus

Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus has announced that the upcoming national election and referendum will be held on the same day as part of the implementation process of the July National Charter.

He made the announcement in a televised address to the nation at 2:30 pm on Thursday, following a meeting of the interim government’s Advisory Council at the Chief Adviser’s Office in Tejgaon, according to local media reports.

The speech was broadcast live on BTV, BTV News, and BTV World.

Earlier, on October 28, the National Consensus Commission submitted two recommendations on how to implement the July National Charter. One proposed that a special order be issued to hold a referendum on the reform proposals. If approved, the next parliament would act as a Constitutional Reform Council and complete the reforms within 270 days, failing which the proposals would be automatically added to the Constitution.

Political parties, however, failed to reach a consensus on the implementation process despite the government’s call for unity. Consequently, the interim government has now decided to move ahead with its own plan to implement the charter.