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DHAKA: Bangladesh’s National Consensus Commission, tasked by the caretaker government to lead critical democratic reforms after a mass uprising last year, said Monday that political parties had failed to reach agreement.
The South Asian nation of around 170 million people has been in political turmoil since former prime minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted by a student-led revolt in August 2024, ending her iron-fisted rule of 15 years.
Muhammad Yunus, the 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner who is leading the caretaker government as its chief adviser until elections are held, has previously said he inherited a “completely broken down” system of public administration.
Yunus has said it required a comprehensive overhaul to prevent a future return to authoritarian rule. He set up six commissions to do that work, overseen by the Consensus Commission, which he heads.
Ali Riaz, the commission’s vice president, said that despite marathon efforts they had not reached a deal.
“It wasn’t possible to reach a consensus on several significant constitutional issues,” Riaz told reporters in Dhaka, saying talks stretched over 45 sessions.
“We have been discussing 166 recommendations with 38 political parties and alliances.”
Riaz, a political science professor at Illinois State University, said the teams would not give up.
“We are going to begin a second round of talks,” he said, adding that the country’s statistics bureau would “conduct a household survey to gauge public opinion.” The commission plans to include 46,000 families in the survey.
Contentious issues include whether a prime minister can serve more than two terms, and the process for selecting the president.
The procedure for appointing the chief of the interim government, and the duration of its tenure, has also divided parties, Riaz said.
Parties also debated recommendations to change the terms of the constitution from “secularism” to “pluralism.”
Bangladesh is a Muslim-majority nation, with Hindus accounting for less than a tenth of the population.
“Although most parties rejected the idea of pluralism, they recommended incorporating some form of protection for minorities,” he said.
Yunus warned on Saturday that political power struggles risked jeopardizing gains that have been made, carrying out two days of talks with more than 20 political party leaders.
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 politicizing courts and the civil service, as well as staging lopsided elections to dismantle democratic checks on its power.
Yunus has said polls could be held as early as December but that holding them later — with the deadline of June 2026 — would give the government more time for reform.
On Saturday, Yunus met with the key Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), seen as the election front-runners, who are pushing hard for polls to be held by December.
The military insisted at a press conference on Monday that there was no division with Yunus.
It was the first address to the media since army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman gave an address to officers on May 21.
He said that elections should be held by December, aligning with BNP demands, according to Bangladeshi media and military sources.
“There is no rift between the government and the Bangladesh Army,” Lt. Col. Muhammad Shafiqul Islam told reporters.
“We share a cordial relationship and are working together for the sake of the country.”

HANOI: French President Emmanuel Macron’s office on Monday downplayed an incident in which his wife appeared to push his face away as he arrived in Vietnam to begin a Southeast Asian tour.

Footage shot by the Associated Press news agency in Hanoi on Sunday evening shows Macron’s plane door opening to reveal him.

His wife Brigitte’s arms emerge from the left of the open doorway, she places both hands on her husband’s face and gives it a shove.

The president appears startled but quickly recovers and turns to wave through the open door. She remains concealed by the aircraft body, making it impossible to see her facial expression or body language.

The couple proceed down the staircase for the official welcome by Vietnamese officials, though Brigitte Macron does not take her husband’s offered arm.

The video clip circulated rapidly online, promoted particularly by accounts that are habitually hostile to the French leader.

Macron’s office initially denied the authenticity of the images, before they were confirmed as genuine.

A close associate of the president later described the incident as a couple’s harmless “squabble.”

Another member of his entourage played down the significance of the incident.

“It was a moment when the president and his wife were decompressing one last time before the start of the trip by joking around,” the second source told reporters.

“It’s a moment of togetherness. No more was needed to feed the mills of the conspiracy theorists,” the source added, blaming pro-Russian accounts for negative comments about the incident.

Vietnam is the first stop on an almost week-long tour of Southeast Asia for Macron where he will pitch France as a reliable alternative to the United States and China.

He will also visit Indonesia and Singapore.