Months after the significant political upheaval in Dhaka triggered by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ouster in August 2024, the initial optimism regarding a pragmatic shift in Bangladesh’s political direction is swiftly transforming into disillusionment. What began as a strong resistance to the perceived entrenchment of autocratic governance under Hasina, a moment that seemed poised to recalibrate the nation’s political framework and institutionalise its emerging democratic achievements now appears to be fostering an increasingly troubling political environment. The interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, which has claimed a mandate to guide the country through this delicate transition, is increasingly exhibiting a tendency towards authoritarian rule that contradicts the democratic renewal it professes to support.

The emerging governance pattern under this unelected and non-democratic interim administration raises substantial concerns regarding the genuineness of the promised political reform, thereby engendering fears of a nascent trajectory of democratic regression rather than meaningful institutional consolidation. Rather than representing a departure from the authoritarian practices it previously condemned under the Awami League government, recent developments indicate that the actions of the transitional administration are merely a different iteration of political centralisation, albeit under a new façade.

The reforms being implemented by the Yunus-led interim government highlight a pattern of arbitrariness that raises significant concerns about the direction of Bangladesh’s political transition. Shortly after taking office as Chief Advisor of the transitional government in August 2024, Yunus announced in September the formation of several commissions, each endowed with a broad mandate to propose extensive structural reforms aimed at overhauling the nation’s governance framework. These commissions were assigned the task of reconfiguring essential institutional mechanisms,........

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