Bangladesh will hold a general election in April next year, head of the country's interim government Muhammad Yunus declared on Friday.
Disaffection among the population for the military-backed interim government has been growing. Deadly protests had ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August last year.
"The Election Commission will provide you with a detailed roadmap for the elections at an appropriate time," Yunus said in a public address. "Hold your candidates and political parties accountable, demand firm pledges that the agreed-upon reforms will be passed in the very first session of the new parliament—without compromise," he said.
Yunus said that the government's key responsibility is to hold a clean, peaceful, festive, and inclusive election, Bangladeshi media reported.
"Our goal is to prevent future crises. That requires institutional reform. Without ensuring good governance in the institutions directly linked to the electoral process, all the sacrifices made by students and citizens will be in vain," he said.
Yunus has been facing calls from political parties including former PM Khaleeda Zia-led Bangladesh Nationalist Party to announce a date for the next elections.
The BNP has emerged as the key actor in the political arena after the ouster of the 15-year-long Awami League regime of Hasina.
Bangladesh, home to 17 crore people, has been in political turmoil since Hasina's departure. Matters have been escalating in the past several weeks with rival parties and trade unions or pressure groups protesting on the streets of the capital Dhaka with a string of competing demands.
(With PTI inputs)
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