DHAKA: Bangladesh`s interim government has been unable to fully ensure public safety and holding a general election this year will be difficult, the head of a newly launched political party said.

Former prime minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted last August in the wake of mass, sometimes violent, student-led protests. The interim government, headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, said this month that elections could be held by the end of 2025 although unrest has continued.

`In the past seven months, we all expected the policing system, law and order to be restoredthrough short-term reforms. It has happened to an extent, but not up to our expectations,` said Nahid Islam, the head of Jatiya Nagorik Party or National Citizens` Party (NCP) and former student leader.

`In the current law and order situation and policing system, I don`t think it is possible to hold a national election,` the 26-year-old said in his first interview as NCP head at his government-provided villa in Dhaka.

Islam, who was until recently an adviser in the interim government, is the first politician of significance to cast doubt on Yunus` timeframe for an election.-Reuters