The power vacuum in Bangladesh entered its third day on Wednesday awaiting the formation of a new government following the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the dissolution of Parliament, a crisis driven by an anti-government student protest movement in which more than 400 people have died.
Bangladeshi President Mohammed Shahabuddin agreed last night to appoint Muhammad Yunus, an 84-year-old economist who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, as head of the interim government, fulfilling the request of the student movement that sparked a civil unrest just over a month ago and ended with Hasina’s resignation.
Yunus is currently in Paris undergoing a minor medical procedure, his spokesman told reporters, without specifying when he might return to the country.
Similar reports in Bangladeshi media, citing several of the former prime minister’s associates, point to the army’s refusal to step up repression in the streets after three weeks of fighting and more than 400 deaths, most of them students or civilians, but also security agents, as the turning point for her resignation.
The former prime minister, the longest-serving woman in government, is accused of having ousted or jailed rivals, including Yunus himself, to form a one-party state.
Hasina’s downfall and departure for India has led to the release of Khaleda Zia, leader of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, who was imprisoned during Hasina’s Awami League regime.
Zia, who also ruled the Asian nation of 170 million people for two terms (1991-1996 and 2001-2006), is the only person who has been able to challenge Hasina’s power.
Hasina and Zia are the only women to have led the country since 1991, except for brief periods as caretaker governments.
The Awami League leader has not appeared in public since her unexpected resignation and clandestine departure to New Delhi, although neither her family nor the Indian authorities have specified how long she will remain in the neighbouring country.
Indian Prime Minister Narendras Modi’s government, which counted Hasina as one of its main allies in the region, has offered apparent support and protection to the former president, despite criticism and accusations of human rights violations against her.
“People are angry with India because it is supporting the person who destroyed our lives,” Yunus said yesterday in an interview with Indian channel Time Now.
Another option for his possible exile has been the United Kingdom, where part of his family resides, although this also poses security concerns as he could encounter a significant number of dissidents and critics who left Bangladesh during his controversial 15 years in office.
2024-08-07 23:09:45
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