Bangladesh appoints 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner to lead interim government
Aug 07, 2024
Dhaka [Bangladesh], August 7: Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin appointed Muhammad Yunus as chief adviser to the interim government on August 6, after meeting with protest leaders and commanders of the three military services, according to Reuters.
Muhammad Yunus, 84, and his Grameen Bank won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for their efforts to lift millions out of poverty by providing loans of less than $100 to rural people. He is in Paris for medical treatment and is expected to return to Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, soon .
Student protest leaders said they wanted Mr Yunus to take over as interim government leader and he agreed. He has not spoken since his appointment.
The student protesters have threatened to continue unless parliament is dissolved and their demands are not met. "Any government other than the one we have proposed will not be accepted," Nahid Islam, one of the protest organizers, said in a video.
Protests have been taking place across Bangladesh since July, demanding Ms Hasina's resignation. About 300 people have been killed and thousands injured in clashes.
Protesters are protesting against public sector job quotas for families of veterans of Bangladesh's 1971 independence war. Ms Hasina's government has been accused of using the quotas to award jobs to allies of the ruling party.
President Shahabuddin dissolved parliament on August 6 as protesters demanded and released opposition leader Begum Khaleda Zia, who served as prime minister for two terms and had long clashed with Ms. Hasina. They are the only two women to have led Bangladesh, although Ms. Hasina's tenure was longer, according to the magazine Foreign Policy . President Shahabuddin said the caretaker government would hold elections immediately after taking over.
As for Mr Yunus, he was indicted in June on embezzlement charges but has pleaded not guilty. Mr Yunus called the day Ms Hasina left Bangladesh "the second day of liberation". "India is our best friend. People are angry with India because they are supporting the person who destroyed our lives," Mr Yunus said on August 5, before his appointment.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
