Economist and civil society leader Muhammad Yunus will lead Bangladesh’s interim government, the presidency has said. Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has resigned and fled the country amid a violent uprising.
Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus will lead Bangladesh’s interim government after the resignation of Premier Sheikh Hasina, according to President Mohammad Shahabuddin office.
Student leaders of protests in Bangladesh had said they do not want an army-led interim government but rather one advised by Yunus.
The announcement came after a meeting with Bangladesh’s army chief, General Waker-uz-Zaman, who said the previous day that an interim government would be formed, without giving details about who would lead it.
Bangladesh’s president also dissolved the parliament on Tuesday.
The dissolution of the legislature had been a key demand of the protesters.
Yunus’ office had earlier confirmed Tuesday that he has agreed to be an adviser for an interim government before he was announced as chief.
Who is Nobel laureaute Yunus?
Yunus, who is reportedly in Paris, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his work in granting microcredit to impoverished Bangladeshis from his Grameen Bank, often enabling them to pull themselves out of poverty by building small businesses.
The 84-year-old was, however, indicted by a Bangladeshi court in June on embezzlement charges that he has denied.
“Any government other than the one we recommended would not be accepted,” Nahid Islam, one of the key organizers of the student movement, said in a video on Facebook with three other organizers. “We wouldn’t accept any army-supported or army-led government.”
“We have also had discussions with Muhammad Yunus and he has agreed to take on this responsibility at our invitation,” Islam added.
