Following what’s seen by the highest level of the interim government as a near-mutiny, General Waker-uz-Zaman’s position has become increasingly untenable — unless Muhammad Yunus steps aside. That, for now, is the political equation confronting the country.
The BNP is expected to choose. Dialogue with the army is off the table, either directly or via opposition channels: BNP’s request for a chat to discuss the military was declined.
The general’s remarks at an officers’ address were seen as strikingly brazen, bordering on a military intervention— an affront to any civilian administration hoping to retain a shred of authority. A measured denial or clarification from the military’s public-relations wing, ISPR, might have stemmed the damage. None came.
Speculation over Yunus’s potential resignation is not idle chatter. When one semi-adviser suggested otherwise on Facebook, he was swiftly admonished by Yunus himself.
Time is running out. A cabinet meeting on Saturday/Sunday may bring greater clarity. The BNP must now decide whether to back the chief adviser, likely prompting the dismissal of the army chief, or to hedge—or stay silent—risking Yunus’s departure.
Either way, the ball is in the BNP’s court, and the BNP hates to choose.