Bangladesh’s interim government chief adviser Muhammad Yunus “needs to remain” in office as interim leader to ensure a peaceful transition of power, a cabinet member and special adviser to the Nobel laureate said on Friday, reported news agency AFP.

The remarks come amid reports that Yunus, who assumed office following a mass uprising in Bangladesh last year, has threatened to resign if political parties fail to support him.

“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.”

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According to the AFP report, 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
 

Yunus’s relationship with the military has also reportedly deteriorated. On Wednesday, Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman said that elections should be held by December. 

As reported by Hindustan Times, Zaman’s remarks at an internal army meeting in Dhaka cantonment were also leaked to the Bangladeshi media. 

“Bangladesh needs political stability. This is only possible through an elected government, not by unelected decision-makers,” he was quoted as saying at the meeting by The Daily Star newspaper.

“The army is meant for defending the nation, not for policing…We must return to barracks after elections,” he also said, according to the daily.

On Friday, Taiyeb also responded to the warning issued by Zaman, saying that the army cannot meddle in politics, reported AFP.

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“The army can’t meddle in politics,” he wrote. “The army doesn’t do that in any civilised country.”

He added: “By saying that the election has to be held by December, the military chief failed to maintain his jurisdictional correctness.”