All eyes on Yunus' London meeting with BNP leader Tareq Rahman to discuss Bangladesh crisis shortly

Dhaka [Bangladesh], June 13 : Muhammad Yunus, the Chief Adviser to the interim government of Bangladesh, is set to meet BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman in London to discuss the political crisis ahead of the national election likely to be held in early April next year.

BNP and interim government officials say all preparations have been completed to start the two-hour meeting at a local hotel at 9 a.m. London local time. The meeting comes amid an ongoing cold war between the BNP and the interim government over the election schedule.

Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus announced that the national election will be held in the first half of April next year. But BNP demanded it must be held by December this year. Army Chief General Waker-uz-Zaman also expressed his opinion to hold the election by December.

Yunus argues that his government wants to bring about some institutional reforms in Bangladesh before the elections. In addition, it also needs time to prosecute Awami League leaders, including Sheikh Hasina. BNP, however, says that if the elections are held in April, the candidates will not have the opportunity to campaign because the holy month of Ramadan will begin in mid-February in Bangladesh, which has a Muslim-majority population of 170 million.

Many are considering the London meeting between Muhammad Yunus and Tarique Rahman as a game changer for Bangladeshi politics.

Right now, former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's BNP is the largest political party in Bangladesh, as Sheikh Hasina's Awami League is banned from running.

Tarique Rahman, the son of Khaleda Zia, seems set to return soon to Bangladesh after 16 years in exile in London.

Muhammad Yunus is now in London on a four-day official visit. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer declined to meet Yunus after Awami League concerns.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted in a student-led uprising in August last year. She is now living in India in self-imposed exile. After Sheikh Hasina's fall, an interim government was formed under the leadership of Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Laureate.

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