Bangladesh to unveil democratic overhauls on revolution anniversary

Published August 2, 2025
Activists of the Anti-Discriminatory Student Movement gather at the University of Dhaka’s Teacher Student Centre, demanding the capital punishment for Bangladeshi former prime minister Sheikh Hasina for the deaths of students during anti-quota protests, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, August 13, 2024. — Reuters/File
Activists of the Anti-Discriminatory Student Movement gather at the University of Dhaka’s Teacher Student Centre, demanding the capital punishment for Bangladeshi former prime minister Sheikh Hasina for the deaths of students during anti-quota protests, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, August 13, 2024. — Reuters/File

Bangladesh’s interim government said on Saturday it will release its slate of democratic overhauls on August 5, the one-year anniversary of the overthrow of the previous autocratic administration.

The South Asian nation of around 170 million people has been in political turmoil since a student-led revolt ousted then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina on August 5, 2024, ending her 15-year rule.

Muhammad Yunus, the 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner who is leading the caretaker government as its chief adviser until elections are held, has said he inherited a “completely broken down” system of public administration.

Yunus previously pledged to unveil a “big package” to overhaul democratic institutions.

But efforts to reach agreements have made slow progress as political parties jostle for power ahead of elections, slated for early 2026.

Yunus’s government has warned that political power struggles risk jeopardising the gains that have been made.

On July 29, Yunus said he was working to “build a broad national consensus around a renewed political system — one that delivers inclusive, participatory, and credible elections”.

Yunus’s office said on Saturday that the “July Proclamation” would be “presented to the nation … in the presence of all political parties involved in the mass uprising”.

Hasina’s rule saw widespread human rights abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killings of her political opponents.

Her government was also accused of politicising courts and the civil service, staging lopsided elections and dismantling democratic checks on its power.

Hasina, 77, fled to India, where she has defied court orders to attend her ongoing trial on charges amounting to crimes against humanity.

Protests began on July 1, 2024, with university students calling for reforms to a quota system for public sector jobs.

They culminated on August 5, 2024, when thousands of protesters stormed Hasina’s palace as she escaped by helicopter.

Opinion

Editorial

Momentary relief
Updated 10 May, 2026

Momentary relief

THE IMF’s approval of the latest review of Pakistan’s ongoing Fund programme comes at a moment of growing global...
India’s global shame
10 May, 2026

India’s global shame

INDIA’s rabid streak is at an all-time high. Prejudice is now an organised movement to erase religious freedoms ...
Aurat March restrictions
Updated 10 May, 2026

Aurat March restrictions

The message could not have been clearer: women may gather, but only if they remain politically harmless.
Removing subsidies
Updated 09 May, 2026

Removing subsidies

The government no longer has the budgetary space to continue carrying hundreds of billions of rupees in untargeted subsidies while the power sector itself remains trapped in circular debt, inefficiencies, theft and under-recovery.
Scarred at home
09 May, 2026

Scarred at home

WHEN homes turn violent towards children, the psychosocial damage is lifelong. In Pakistan, parental violence is...
Zionist zealotry
09 May, 2026

Zionist zealotry

BOTH the Israeli military and far-right citizens of the Zionist state have been involved in appalling hate crimes...