Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus will head Bangladesh’s interim government after longtime Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country amid a mass uprising that left hundreds of people dead and pushed the South Asian nation to the brink of chaos.
The decision, announced early Wednesday by Joynal Abedin, the press secretary of the country’s figurehead President Mohammed Shahabuddin, came during a meeting that included military chiefs, organizers of the student protests that helped drive Hasina from power, prominent business leaders and civil society members.
A longtime political opponent of Hasina, Yunus is expected to return soon from Paris, where he is advising Olympic organizers, media reports said.
An economist and banker, he was awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for his work developing microcredit markets. Yunus has been hailed for bringing thousands out of poverty through Grameen Bank, which he founded in 1983, and which makes small loans to businesspeople who wouldn’t qualify for regular bank loans.
Other members of the new government would be decided soon, after discussions with political parties and other stakeholders, Abedin said. The president had dissolved Parliament on Tuesday, clearing the way for an interim administration and new elections.
Shahabuddin also ordered the release of opposition leader Khaleda Zia from house arrest, a longtime Hasina rival who was convicted on corruption charges in 2018.
The streets of Dhaka, the capital, were calm Tuesday, a day after violence swept parts of the country amid Hasina’s sudden departure. On Tuesday, jubilant protesters thronged the ousted leader’s residence, some posing for selfies with soldiers guarding the building after Monday’s wave of looting.
The Bangladesh Police Association went on strike after police stations and security officials were attacked across the country Monday. The association said “many” officers had been killed but gave no number. Officers would not return to work unless their safety is assured, the association said. It also apologized for police attacks on student protesters, saying officers were “forced to open fire.”
Yunus, who had called Hasina’s resignation the country’s “second liberation day,” had faced corruption charges during her rule that he derided as politically motivated. He could not immediately be reached for comment, but a key organizer of the protests, Nahid Islam, said he had agreed to head the interim administration.
Islam said protesters would propose more names for the Cabinet and suggested that it would be difficult for those in power to ignore their wishes.
Hasina fled to India by helicopter as protesters defied a military curfew to march on the capital, with thousands eventually storming her residence and other buildings associated with her party and family.
The unrest began in July with protests against a quota system for government jobs, which critics said favored people with connections to her party. But they soon grew into a broader challenge to Hasina’s 15-year rule, which was marked by human rights abuses, corruption, allegations of rigged elections and a brutal crackdown on her opponents.
The government’s violent response to the demonstrations, which killed about 300 people in just a few weeks, only fueled the protests more.
The quick move to choose Yunus came after Hasina’s resignation created a power vacuum and left the future unclear for Bangladesh, which has a history of military rule, messy politics and myriad crises. The military wields significant influence in a country that has seen more than 20 coups or coup attempts since its independence from Pakistan in 1971. Military chief Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman said Monday he had taken temporary control while a new government is formed.
Amid the celebrations, student Juairia Karim said it was a historic day. “Today we are getting what we deserve,” she said. “Everyone is happy, everyone is cheerful.”
But the country was still counting the toll of weeks of violence that produced some of its worst bloodshed since its war of independence. Many fear that Hasina’s departure could trigger even more instability in the densely populated nation of some 170 million people, which is already dealing with high unemployment, corruption and climate change.
Source: https://apnews.com/article/bangladesh-protests-interim-government-bca66e8251f86deb3fe28c913d0a1444
