New Delhi: The interim government in Bangladesh, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, will take oath tomorrow, as announced by the nation’s army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman. General Waker informed reporters that the interim government is expected to take oath at 8 pm.
Here’s your 10-point cheat sheet to this big story:
- The advisory council, to be led by Mr. Yunus, may have 15 members, according to the army chief.
- Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin appointed Mr. Yunus, 84, to head the interim government following the violent ouster of former pro-India Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
- General Waker stated that Mr. Yunus would guide Bangladesh through a “democratic process” upon his arrival to helm the interim government.
- “He is very eager to do this,” the General said in a televised address. “I am certain that he will be able to take us through a beautiful democratic process and that we will benefit from this.”
- Mr. Yunus expressed his eagerness to help the country overcome its current turbulence, stating, “I’m looking forward to going back home, see what’s happening and how we can organise ourselves to get out of the trouble we are in,” before boarding a flight at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport bound for Dubai, where he will take a connecting plane for Dhaka.
- The Nobel-winning microfinance pioneer has called for calm after weeks of violence, which has resulted in at least 455 deaths. “If we take the path of violence, everything will be destroyed,” he added.
- The appointment of Mr. Yunus followed a call from student leaders, who credited him with lifting millions out of poverty in Bangladesh, to lead the interim government. The decision was made in a meeting with President Mohammed Shahabuddin, the heads of the army, navy, and air force, and student leaders.
- Mr. Yunus will hold the title of chief adviser, according to Nahid Islam, a leader of Students Against Discrimination who participated in the meeting.
- A Bangladesh court today acquitted Mr. Yunus of a labour conviction on appeal, his lawyer Khaja Tanvir Ahmed told AFP. Mr. Yunus had traveled abroad earlier this year after being sentenced to six months in jail for the labour charge but was immediately bailed pending appeal. The case was criticized as politically motivated by rights watchdogs, including Amnesty International.
- Ms. Hasina, 76, who had been in power since 2009, resigned on Monday as hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets of Dhaka demanding she step down. Monday’s events culminated over a month of unrest, which began as protests against a plan for quotas in government jobs but evolved into an anti-Hasina movement. Ms. Hasina, accused of rigging January elections and widespread human rights abuses, deployed security forces to quash the protests. Hundreds of people were killed in the crackdown, but the military turned against Ms. Hasina over the weekend, forcing her to flee in a helicopter to neighboring India.
