Bangladesh’s Military Chief, Gen. Waker-Uz-Zaman has announced that that an interim government headed by Nobel laureate, Muhammad Yunus would be sworn in on Thursday, August 7, 2024, night.
This come as Yunus returns from Paris to take over the administration and try to restore stability in the country, after an uprising forced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to step down and flee to neighboring India.
Bangladesh’s President Mohammed Shahabuddin, a symbolic figure who is acting as the Chief Executive now under the constitution, named Yunus as the Head of an interim government, in consultation with the army and student leaders.
Gen. Waker-Uz-Zaman disclosed that he spoke to Yunus and would receive him at the airport on Thursday.
Zaman added that he was hopeful that Yunus would take the situation to a “beautiful democratic” process.
Gen. Waker-Uz-Zaman said in a televised address late Wednesday afternoon that those responsible for the violence since Hasina’s resignation would be brought to justice.
On Wednesday, the streets of Dhaka, the capital, were calm two days after violence gripped the country amid Hasina’s sudden departure.
The students were seen cleaning streets and managing traffic in parts of Dhaka as police including traffic police disappeared amid violent attacks on police stations in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country.
In his first statement since he was named as the head of an interim government, Yunus on Wednesday congratulated the students for “taking the lead in making our Second Victory Day possible.”
He also appealed to them, members of political parties and other people to stay calm.
Referring to acts of violence that happened after Hasina’s resignation, Yunus said, “Violence is our enemy. Please don’t create more enemies. Be calm and get ready to build the country.”
Speaking to reporters in Paris, Yunus expressed, “I’m looking forward to going back home and seeing what’s happening there, and how we can organize ourselves to get out of the trouble that we are in.″
Asked when elections would be held, he put his hands up as if to indicate it was too early to say.
″I’ll go and talk to them. I’m just fresh in this whole area,″ he remarked.
Zia Calls For Calm
Earlier on Wednesday, ailing opposition leader and former Prime Minister, Khaleda Zia urged all not to follow the path of destruction in Bangladesh as she addressed her supporters from a hospital bed at a rally in Dhaka.
It was her first public speech since 2018, when she was convicted of corruption charges and jailed.
“No destruction, no anger, and no revenge, we need love and peace to rebuild our country,” she said using a video link.
“I have been released now. I want to thank the brave people who were in a do-or-die struggle to make possible the impossible. This victory brings us a new possibility to come back from the debris of plunder, corruption and ill-politics. We need to reform this country as a prosperous one.”
Khaleda Zia
The rally by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party came a day after her release from house arrest, amid a new political environment in the country.
Zia’s freedom is largely symbolic as the ailing leader has been staying outside the prison under an executive order of the former government but was not allowed to travel abroad.
Her son and the acting head of the party, Tarique Rahman also addressed the crowd online from London, where he has been living in exile since 2008.
Rahman faces several criminal cases and was convicted of corruption and a grenade attack, charges dismissed by supporters as politically motivated.
Zia, who ruled the country from 2001 to 2006, was convicted on corruption charges in 2018 and sentenced to 17 years in prison. Her party said the charges were designed to keep her away from politics.
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