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Nobel Peace Prize-winning economist Muhammad Yunus has called for ‘stability’ and new elections in Bangladesh.
“It is critical that trust in government be restored quickly,” Yunus, 84, told the Financial Times (FT) in a statement.
“We need calm, we need a road map to new elections, and we need to get to work to prepare for new leadership in order to fulfill the extraordinary potential of Bangladesh,” he is quoted to have said.
Benjamin Parkin, the South Asian correspondent of FT, reported that Yunus made the call after agreeing to lead an interim government following the sudden ousting of prime minister Sheikh Hasina this week.
Sheikh Hasina, who ruled the country of 170 million people for the past 15 years, resigned and fled to neighbouring India on Monday after thousands of protesters defied a curfew to march on her residence following weeks of violence and demonstrations, said the FT report.
A movement that began with students had escalated into an anti-government uprising against 76-year-old Sheikh Hasina’s repressive rule, after she ordered a violent crackdown on the protests that led to about 300 deaths, the report added.
Political turmoil over the weekend continued on Monday, with widespread looting and arson attacks on buildings associated with Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League party, the FT report added further.
Yunus, the internationally celebrated founder of microfinance lender Grameen Bank, said on Wednesday that he had agreed to lead an interim government to fill the precarious power vacuum that followed Sheikh Hasina’s departure.
Student leaders had requested Yunus’s involvement in the new administration amid concerns in Bangladeshi civil society about the possible role of the military in the country’s political future, according to FT report.
“Bangladesh’s military has long intervened in domestic politics through coups and dictatorships, and army chief Waker-uz-Zaman said in a press conference on Monday after Sheikh Hasina’s departure that he would also be engaged in talks to form the new government,” added the FT report.
“Yunus, who was subjected to multiple investigations and court cases under Sheikh Hasina that his supporters called politically motivated, said he was reluctant to accept the students’ request but ultimately agreed,” it continued.
“Given the sacrifices of the students, especially those who have lost their lives for our nation’s liberation, I am not in a position to say no to them,” Yunus is quoted to have said to FT.
“In the coming days, I will talk with all of the relevant parties about how we can work together to rebuild Bangladesh and how they can help,” he continued. “I have no intention to seek any elected or appointed office beyond this role during this interim period.”
FT mentioned that many Bangladeshis hope his appointment and swift elections will bring an end to one of the most turbulent periods in the country’s 53-year history
Sheikh Hasina comfortably won elections in January after rounding up thousands of political rivals, a result criticised by the US and others, according to the FT report.
“She had faced growing popular dissatisfaction over a painful economic slowdown after years of rapid growth helped in part by the country’s garments export sector, the world’s second-largest after China. Bangladesh is an important supplier to companies such as H&M and Zara,” it added further.
The student protests last month initially called for reform to a controversial job quota system, which they said benefited supporters of the Awami League, before spiraling into a broader anti-government movement.
“The ensuing upheaval upended the economy and forced factories to shut for days,” the FT report continued.
According to FT, India’s foreign minister confirmed that New Delhi had agreed to receive Sheikh Hasina on Monday “at very short notice”. She is now reportedly seeking shelter in a third country.