The Chief Adviser's announcement of a timeframe, with an outer horizon of June 2026 for the next election, worked as the perfect tonic on the morning of Victory Day. Not everyone was satisfied - notably the BNP, that in the absence of the Awami League, who remain on the run mostly, poses as the biggest political party in the country by potential vote share.

Specifically, their complaint is over the absence of a roadmap in what Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus put forth before the nation. What they need to realise, after having spoken on multiple occasions of their support for the interim government and its reform agenda, is that the way the IG has chosen to go about fulfilling its mission, which is no secret, does not allow for that coveted 'roadmap' - presumably a timeframe with greater specification in terms of dates - yet.

It will act on the advice or recommendations of a gaggle of commissions it has appointed to review the situation in each area of concern, or at least the ones perceived to be in greatest need of reform. It's true that most of the commissions are nearing the end of their 3-month tenures and will soon be presenting their final reports to Dr Yunus. Alongside the white paper on the economy, which was the work of the first such commission formed by the Yunus administration and accordingly the first to submit its report, the one on enforced disappearances (popularly called the 'goom commission') has now completed its work. Neither of these two however had any direct bearing on electoral reform or the political process.

It should be clear as daylight to anyone that Dr Yunus cannot credibly offer a definitive roadmap, of the kind being asked for by the political parties including BNP, before receiving the reports of the most important commissions, of which there were six. At least four of them could be described as critically important to the political process and hence the holding of elections (the ones on the constitution, on judicial reform, on electoral reform, and on corruption).

The way it's going to work, we also learned from the CA's Victory Day speech, is that once all the commissions have completed their work, there will be the formation of a 'consensus commission', to be headed by the venerable chief adviser himself, that will work to arrive at how much reform should be undertaken by the IG before holding elections, and how much or what should be left to future governments. Prof. Ali Riaz, who is heading the constitution reform commission, will act as Dr Yunus's deputy on the consensus commission, which is expected to include all the commission chairs who submitted reports. Most importantly, it will engage with all the political parties to reach the coveted consensus. Despite the relentless scrutiny he has faced over the four-and-a-half months, Dr Yunus remains the best candidate to steer the nation towards that promised land.