Bangladesh: 84-year-old Nobel Prize winner to rule temporarily

Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus is to lead the interim government in Bangladesh. President Mohammed Shahabuddin made the decision at a meeting with the army leadership and representatives of the student organization SAD, the presidential office announced early Wednesday morning (local time). Yunus had agreed to lead the government on an interim basis after leaders of the SAD had called on him to do so. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India on Monday due to the weeks-long mass protests led by students.

Shahabuddin has assured that the transitional government will be formed “as soon as possible,” said student leader Nahid Islam following the meeting with the president. In connection with the violent riots and numerous deaths during the protests, the national police chief was dismissed, the presidential office further announced.

Yunus calls for free elections in Bangladesh

Hasina fled Bangladesh on Monday after 15 years in power and weeks of mass protests, some of which were violent, that left hundreds dead. Demonstrators had previously stormed her official residence and set fire to television stations. Army chief Waker-Uz-Zaman then announced the formation of a transitional government. “It is time to put an end to the violence,” he stressed. Shahabuddin dissolved parliament.

In the run-up to Shahabuddin’s decision, Yunus had stressed that the interim government was “just the beginning. Real peace can only come with free elections. Without elections there can be no change.” The 84-year-old was long considered a political opponent of Hasina. More than a hundred court cases were brought against him, which supporters criticized as political persecution.

In the 1980s, Yunus founded the Grameen Bank, which provides microcredit to the poorest people in Bangladesh. In 2006, the economist was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work.