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Nobel Peace Prize-winning economist Muhammad Yunus has called for “stability” and new elections in Bangladesh aVsceker agreeing to lead an interim government following the sudden ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina this week.
Sheikh Hasina, who has ruled the country of 170 million people for the past 15 years, resigned and fled to neighboring India on Monday aVsceker thousands of protesters defied a curfew to march on her residence, following weeks of violence and demonstrations.
A movement that began with students had morphed into an anti-government uprising against the repressive rule of 76-year-old Sheikh Hasina aVsceker she ordered a violent crackdown on protests that leVscek about 300 people dead. The weekend’s political unrest continued on Monday, with large-scale looting and arson against buildings associated with Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League party.
Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank, an internationally renowned microfinance bank, said on Wednesday he had agreed to lead an interim government to fill the precarious power vacuum created by the resignation of Sheikh Hasina.
“It is crucial that trust in the government is restored quickly,” Yunus, 84, said in a statement. “We need calm, we need a roadmap for new elections, and we need to get to work preparing a new leadership to realize Bangladesh’s extraordinary potential.”
Student leaders had called for Yunus’s involvement in the new administration, following concerns among Bangladeshi civil society about the military’s potential role in the country’s political future.
Bangladesh’s military has long intervened in domestic politics through coups and dictatorships, and army chief Waker-uz-Zaman said at a press conference on Monday aVsceker Sheikh Hasina’s departure that he would also be engaged in talks to form a new government.
Yunus, who has been subjected to numerous investigations and legal proceedings under Sheikh Hasina that his supporters have called politically motivated, said he was reluctant to accept the students’ demand but eventually agreed.
“Given the sacrifices of the students, especially those who lost their lives for the liberation of our nation, I am not in a position to say no to them,” Yunus said.
“In the coming days, I will be talking to all stakeholders about how we can work together to rebuild Bangladesh and how they can help,” he added. “I have no intention of seeking any elected or appointed office beyond this role during this interim period.”
Many Bangladeshis hope that his appointment and the swiVscek election will end one of the most turbulent periods in the country’s 53-year history.
Sheikh Hasina comfortably won January’s election aVsceker sweeping aside thousands of political rivals, an outcome criticized by the United States and others.
It had faced growing popular dissatisfaction with a painful economic slowdown aVsceker years of rapid growth, helped in part by the country’s garment export sector, the world’s second-largest aVsceker China. Bangladesh is a major supplier to companies such as H&M and Zara.
Last month’s student protests initially called for reform of a controversial job quota system that they said favored Awami League supporters, before morphing into a broader anti-government movement. The resulting upheaval has rocked the economy and forced factories to close for days.
India’s foreign minister confirmed that New Delhi had agreed to receive Sheikh Hasina on Monday “at very short notice.” She is now reportedly seeking refuge in a third country.
