Election by June next year: Yunus

Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus has reiterated that the next general election will be held by June next year under any circumstances.

He also said the reform initiatives of the interim government will be carried forward.

Prof Yunus said these when former Japanese prime minister and Japan-Bangladesh Parliamentary Friendship League President Taro Aso called on him at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo yesterday.

The chief adviser reached Tokyo at 2:05pm for a four-day visit. He will attend the Nikkei Forum for Asia today and hold bilateral talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba tomorrow.

Taro Aso thanked Prof Yunus for moving Bangladesh towards political stability and emphasised the need for a general election for a smooth democratic transition.

The interim government has made significant economic progress in restoring discipline in the banking sector, rebuilding the foreign exchange reserve and repaying the debts, he said.

"Japan has given every kind of assistance that we needed in the past 10 months. I want to thank Japan a lot for its support. This is, in a way, a thank you tour," he said.

Several Japanese lawmakers who accompanied Aso during the meeting said that signing the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) could be a step forward in attracting more Japanese investment in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh is expecting to complete the negotiation by August and sign the agreement in September.

Once signed, Japan will be the first country to have an EPA with Bangladesh. The bilateral trade is now $4 billion.

The chief adviser also explained the situation of Rohingya refugees to Japanese lawmakers and sought their support to promote the agenda for Rohingya repatriation.

Foreign Adviser Touhid Hossain, chief adviser's Special Envoy Lutfey Siddiqi and the senior secretary for SDG affairs, Lamiya Morshed, were also present at the meeting.

During the bilateral meeting with the Japanese prime minister tomorrow, Bangladesh will seek $1 billion budget support.

At a dinner hosted by Nippon Foundation chief Yohei Sasakawa, Prof Yunus sought his cooperation to resolve the Rohingya crisis and ensure the safe repatriation of the displaced people of Rakhine, reports UNB.

The CA's deputy press secretary said Yohei Sasakawa visited Myanmar more than 150 times and is hugely respected by the Myanmar government and the country's more than 100 ethnic groups, according to the CA's Deputy Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad Majumder.

He said the two leaders discussed the Rohingya crisis, the evolving situation in Myanmar and the sharp decline of grants and aid to humanitarian crises across the globe in recent months.

Azad said the Chief Adviser stated that every year some 35,000 babies are born in the Rohingya camps in Bangladesh, and they are growing up without any hopes.

"Help us before it becomes explosive and dangerous for us," he said, adding that increasing smuggling of drugs has also worsened the security situation in the camps…we need to bring an end to the Rohingya crisis. This is a good moment. We can work together," Kalam said, quoting the chief adviser.

Azad said the Chief Adviser also sought support from the Nippon Foundation for life-saving healthcare research work of the ICDDR'B, which has been hit hard by the suspension of aid by the USAID.