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Interim government chief Muhammad Yunus on Sunday said that the election roadmap would be declared immediately after electoral reforms.

‘The election train has started its journey. It will not stop. But we have to complete many tasks along the way. When this train reaches the last station will depend on how soon we can lay the railway lines for it and that will be through the consensus of the political parties,’ Yunus said in his televised address to the nation marking 100 days of the government.

Three days after the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League regime and her fleeing to India amid an unprecedented student-people uprising, Yunus took office as chief adviser to the interim government on August 8.

Mentioning the role of the students and people in the July-August movement, Yunus said that the government would prosecute every killing.

‘The initiative we have taken to prosecute the July-August killings is also progressing well. We will also demand the return of the fallen dictator, Sheikh Hasina, from India. Not only the July-August killings, we will prosecute all the misdeeds of the past 15 years,’ he said.

‘I am not sure how much opportunity we will get to implement the reform proposals. But I promise you,  if you give me a chance, we will organise your desired elections after completing some necessary reforms,’ Yunus said.

‘Till then, I request you to be patient. We want that we are able to create an electoral system that will be followed for ages,’ he said, adding that it would consequently save the country from recurrent political crises.

For this, he said that he was asking the nation for the necessary time as once the decision on electoral reforms was made, the election roadmap would follow soon.

The interim government was formed to bring politics into the framework of policies, and out of an intense desire to create a new environment for politics, he said.

He said that in addition to the day-to-day running of the state, his government also had to think about building Bangladesh for the future.

‘As you all know, our most important task is to hand over responsibility to the elected government through organising a free and fair election. We have continued our regular communication with the political parties,’ he said.

Having said that political parties were giving their views on various issues, the chief adviser added that these views were being reflected to a large extent in the government’s decision-making.

‘Each of their views is being actively taken into consideration in the ongoing reform process. We hope that the reform commissions will be able to submit their recommendations to the government within the stipulated time, December-January,’ Yunus said.

The government was continuously holding discussions with the political parties on their recommendations and wound finalise the reform proposal based on unanimous agreement.

‘The question of when the elections will be held is on all of your minds. It is also on our minds all the time. You have noticed that we have started taking necessary steps to organise the elections,’ he said, adding that the Election Commission would be formed in a few days.

‘From then on, all the responsibility of organising the elections will fall on them. The Election Commission will be able to start some other tasks, including updating the voter list, which are directly related to a free election,’ he said.

The government was also working to ensure that non-resident Bangladeshis could exercise their voting rights through postal ballots for the first time, he added.

‘However, we do not think that our responsibility in organising elections ends once an election commission is formed. Reforms in the state system are one of the commitments of this government. You have given us this mandate. The six reform commissions that we have formed at the beginning have already taken their activities a long way,’ he said.

He said that people were also seeing updates on their activities in various media.

One of the first six reform commissions was the Election Reform Commission, the recommendations of which were highly important for holding elections, he said, urging the public to express opinions without hesitation.

‘You are the owner of the country. You say what you want, how you want,’ he said.

Yunus urged the public to keep expressing opinions about reforms in elections and other areas, while talking about elections, and said that reforms were the long-term lifeblood of the nation.

‘Keep speaking your mind about elections without any hesitation. Express everyone’s opinion. My request is that you keep talking about reforms at the same time, do not bypass reforms,’ he added.

Reforms would give the nation, especially the youth, an opportunity to create a new world, he said.

The commission for which the opinions of political parties and all the people of the country were most essential was the Constitution Reform Commission, he said, adding that the electoral law would have to be amended based on which part of these recommendations was acceptable to everyone.

‘In parallel, the process of updating the voter list will continue,’ he said.

Meantime, discussions would continue on the recommendations of other reform commissions, he said, adding that additional time might be needed to build consensus on important reforms beyond the elections.

‘We will continue to ask the country’s people, especially the political parties, what reforms they want to implement before the elections. Some reforms may be made during the election preparations. The elections may even be delayed for a few months for reforms,’ he said.

‘I appeal to everyone, regardless of party affiliation, gender, religion, young and old, students, businessmen, workers, farmers, to remain firm on this so that we do not miss the historic opportunity that has been brought to the nation through us. I hope you will accept my appeal,’ the chief adviser concluded.