Dhaka, Feb. 9 -- Bangladesh's interim government was born not at the ballot box but in the streets. The July 2024 uprising swept away a government that many citizens viewed as unaccountable and abusive, creating a dangerous vacuum that needed to be filled quickly to prevent drift or disorder. Professor Muhammad Yunus and his advisers stepped into that breach with an ambitious reform agenda and an assurance: they would help shepherd Bangladesh toward a new democratic order, not replace one unaccountable arrangement with another.

That assurance now hinges on a single, fragile asset: credibility. The paradox of any unelected interim authority is straightforward. It must exercise extraordinary power in the name of restoring democracy, yet it...