The Citizens’ Coalition has proposed for holding of the national election in the first week of February 2026. They presented a detailed roadmap that includes achieving political consensus on the “July Accord” and reform agenda by August 30, 2025.
The Coalition, in a statement, voiced strong concerns over the practicality of an April election, pointing out extreme summer heat, the overlap with Ramadan, and the scheduling of major public exams such as SSC and HSC, all of which could hamper fair voter turnout and effective election campaigning.
The platform also welcomed the upcoming June 13 dialogue in London between Chief Advisor Professor Muhammad Yunus and BNP’s Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, calling it a “rare and promising opportunity” to resolve Bangladesh’s deepening political crisis and move toward a new democratic state founded on social justice.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the Citizens’ Coalition expressed cautious optimism regarding recent developments but voiced concern over the lack of a clear and actionable roadmap for constitutional reforms and elections from the interim government.
They also criticized the major political parties—particularly the BNP—for their reluctance to take principled stances on vital issues of reform.
“We have arrived at a rare moment in our political history—following the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s authoritarian rule—where there is a genuine opportunity to rebuild the state on the foundation of social justice,” the statement reads.
“Yet, in the absence of a specific reform and election roadmap from the interim government, the unwillingness of political parties to commit to key reforms, and the lack of structural reform allocations in the 2025–26 budget, that opportunity is slipping away,” it added.
This roadmap has already been submitted to key stakeholders in both the interim government and political parties, the statement said.
They further warned that without a reform-oriented budget for 2025–26, any elected government in April would face serious limitations in initiating structural reforms in the following fiscal year, effectively delaying the reform agenda by another year.
The Coalition urged that their proposed constitutional reform package be seriously considered in the June 13 talks.