The Chief Advisor of the interim government, Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus, has declared that Bangladesh will never return to the path of autocracy again. The country’s democracy will no longer be under threat.
He made this statement during his speech at the 80th General Assembly session of the United Nations at its headquarters in New York on Friday (September 26) night. He delivered the speech at around 9:30 PM Bangladesh time.
The Chief Advisor stated that democracy and reform efforts in Bangladesh will move forward sustainably based on a national consensus that transcends political parties and ideologies. No force will be able to obstruct the process of rebuilding a just state structure, which has been achieved through the sacrifices of the people.
Dr. Yunus reminded the assembly that Bangladesh was born in 1971 through a bloody struggle for equality, human dignity, and social justice. However, over the past five decades, those rights have been repeatedly suppressed, and the people have had to sacrifice time and again to reclaim them.
He noted that in the “July Uprising” last year, the youth of the country defeated autocracy. That uprising opened a new path toward building a society free from discrimination and grounded in justice — a responsibility that the people have now entrusted to them.
Addressing the challenge of reconstructing a collapsed state structure, Dr. Yunus explained that although reforms could have been implemented by executive orders, his government has chosen the harder path — an inclusive and sustainable process. For this purpose, 11 independent reform commissions have been established across key sectors such as the judiciary, governance, elections, public administration, law enforcement, anti-corruption, and women’s rights.
He further stated that in order to build political consensus around implementing the commissions’ recommendations, a National Consensus Commission was formed, including over 30 political parties and coalitions. As a result, in July, all parties jointly made time-bound commitments to the reform agenda through the “July Declaration.”
Dr. Muhammad Yunus emphasized that because of this united commitment, no matter which party gains public support in the upcoming election, there will be no uncertainty regarding the continuation of the reforms.
