Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus took oath as the head of Bangladesh’s interim government on Thursday. This comes three days after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country on August 5 amid violent protests. Yunus was administered the oath of office by President Mohammed Shahabuddin at a ceremony at the presidential palace 'Bangabhaban' in Dhaka.
84-year-old Yunus was recommended for the role by student protesters and returned to Dhaka earlier on Thursday from Paris, where he was undergoing medical treatment. According to the information, Yunus will be the chief adviser in the interim government tasked with holding fresh elections in the South Asian country of 170 million people. Sixteen other people have been included in the interim Cabinet with members drawn mainly from civil society and including two of the student protest leaders.
The key tasks for Yunus now are restoring peace in Bangladesh and preparing for new elections following weeks of violence in which student activists led an uprising against what was considered Hasina’s increasingly autocratic 15-year rule. The President had dissolved Parliament on Tuesday, clearing the path for the interim administration.
Who is Muhammad Yunus?
Yunus was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for pioneering microcredit to help impoverished people, especially women, while the Grameen Bank, which he had founded, also secured the prize on the same occasion. He faces over 150 other cases, including major corruption charges that could see him jailed for years if found guilty while the economist denies all wrongdoing. Yunus entered Bangladeshi politics in 2007 by forming his Nagorik Shakti (Citizen Power) party and planned to contest the upcoming election amid a state of emergency and severe conflict between Sheikh Hasina's Awami League and Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). He dropped his efforts to establish the party after a lack of support but has maintained his fierce criticism of Hasina's government.
Bangladesh protests
It should be mentioned here that Hasina quit earlier this week after several chaotic weeks that began in July with protests against a quota system for government jobs that critics said favoured people with connections to Hasina’s party. But the demonstrations soon grew into a bigger challenge for Hasina’s 15-year rule as more than 300 people including students were killed amid spiralling violence. Dozens of police officers were also killed, prompting police to stop working across the country.
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