Interim government in Bangladesh led by Yunus

The decision was taken after a meeting between the leading student leaders of the anti-reservation movement and the President Muhammad Shahabuddin. The chiefs of all the three armed security forces were also present in the meeting.

The day after Sheikh Hasina resigned and left the country, President Muhammad Shahabuddin dissolved Parliament on Tuesday to form an interim government. The student leaders had also set a deadline of 3 pm on Tuesday for the president to dissolve the parliament. President Shahabuddin dissolved the National Parliament based on the decision of the meeting held with the heads of the three security agencies, leaders of various political parties, civil society representatives and students leading the anti-reservation movement.

The students also demanded that Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus be appointed as the chief adviser to the interim government. The president and the student leaders who led the movement held talks on Tuesday evening for the formation of an interim government. The talks confirmed the formation of a government led by Yunus.

Yunus is currently in Paris, the capital of France, for treatment. He has said that he will return home after completing the normal medical procedure. 84-year-old Yunus is an economist. He started the concept of microfinance as well as establishing Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. His concept is said to have helped tens of millions of people to get out of poverty. Yunus was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for this work. Hasina said that Yunus was a "parasite that sucks the poor" and she had been accusing him of giving loans to the poor and charging a lot of interest.

Yunus was found guilty by a court in Bangladesh in a financial embezzlement case last June. However, Yunus has denied the allegations. Supporters of Yunus also claim that the Hasina-led government filed false cases due to political bias.

Bangladesh's politics has long been contested between the Hasina-led Awami League and the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). This competition led to the formation of a similar interim government in 2006. Zia held power for five years from 1991 through general elections after the establishment of democracy in Bangladesh. However, in the meantime, the relationship between Hasina and Zia became strained. Because of this the politics of Bangladesh became unstable.

Hasina became the Prime Minister for the first time in 1996. Five years later, she was defeated by Zia. Because of this, Zia became the prime minister again from 2001 to 2006. Meanwhile, relations between the two leaders deteriorated further. The conflict between them was not limited to political competition, but began to move towards revenge. The army took power after the scheduled elections could not be held due to protests, violence and clashes along with political revenge between the two leaders. Later, Army Chief General Mohin Uddin Ahmed entrusted the leadership of the caretaker government to economist Fakhruddin Ahmed as chief advisor.

A new government is going to be formed in Bangladesh. BNP chief and former prime minister Khaleda Zia was released on Tuesday afternoon. According to the instructions of the President, the notice of release was issued in the official gazette on Tuesday. The President announced the release of Zia in his address to the nation on Monday. Bangladeshi media have mentioned that he has also instructed to release all those arrested during the recent protests.

Zia, a long-time rival of Hasina, was sentenced to 17 years in prison in 2018 in a corruption case. The US made the comment that the case was aimed at isolating Zia from the political process without sufficient evidence. Similarly, Amnesty International also mentioned that he was not given the 'right to a fair trial'. Zia was shifted to the hospital for treatment in 2019 after her health condition deteriorated.

In March 2020, he was released for 6 months with conditions not to leave his home, participate in the political process and travel abroad. Since then, he was kept under house arrest for the sixth time. After Hasina left the country due to student-led protests, the way for Zia's release was opened. With the release of Zia, the process of releasing the students and others imprisoned in various cases has also started, the President's Office said.

Zia's party BNP boycotted the 2014 and 2024 elections. BNP had been demanding that elections should be held by a neutral caretaker government saying that the Hasina-led government could not conduct free and fair elections in the country. The demand rejected by Hasina is likely to be fulfilled now. BNP has not yet claimed the post of Prime Minister. In a press conference held on Tuesday, BNP said that it would fully support the student leaders. According to BNP, Zia asked the common people to remain calm until the leadership is handed over.

The international community has praised the Bangladesh Army for playing a coordinating role. The US has insisted on the formation of an interim government saying that the military has shown patience in the recent political upheaval. The European Union (EU) has also urged the military to peacefully hand over power to a democratically elected government. South Asia's powerhouse and Bangladesh's neighbor India has not commented on the latest developments. Earlier, even when the agitation was raging, Delhi said that it was an internal matter of Bangladesh.

Hasina, who left the country, is currently in India. He is expected to go from India to a third country, possibly Britain. The details of his request for political asylum in the UK have been published by various media. But it has not been confirmed. Her sister Sheikh Rehana, who came to India with Hasina, is a British citizen. Rehana's daughter Tulip Siddique is now a British MP.

Student-led demonstrations on Sunday and Monday led to violent clashes. At least 170 people died in those two days. At least 400 people have been killed since the protest started last July. The Jabir International Hotel, owned by a leader of Hasina's Awami League party in the southwestern city of Jashore, was set ablaze on Monday by protesters. The details of at least 24 people being killed in it were made public only on Tuesday morning. It took more than 12 hours to put out the fire in the hotel.

Local media reported that it took more time to put out the fire because the firemen were obstructed by the protesters. On Tuesday, except for some sporadic incidents, the situation is calm. On Monday night, the army announced that all educational institutions will open from Tuesday. But it is not clear when the classes will be conducted.

(with agency help)