Dhaka, Aug 6 (EFE).- Bangladesh’s President Mohammed Shahabuddin has agreed to appoint economist Muhammad Yunus, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, as head of the interim government after the leaders of the anti-government protests proposed his candidacy.
Yunus will lead the interim government after the resignation and flight from Bangladesh of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday, Shahabuddin’s press secretary, Mohammad Joynal Abedin, told EFE.
“The President said the country was now passing through a transitional period. It is important to form an interim government as soon as possible to overcome this crisis,” the presidential office said in a statement.
Representatives of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, which organized weeks-long anti-government protests that brought down Hasina and left more than 400 people dead, said at a news conference that the decision was taken after a meeting with the Bangladeshi president and security officials.
“We gave a primary list of the interim government, which represented the civil society members and students. In a very short time we will hold a discussion with different political parties to finalize it,” said one of the student leaders, Nahid Islam.
Yunus, 84, known as the “banker of the poor”, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for having founded and designed the Grameen Bank to combat poverty in Bangladesh by developing the concept of microcredit, through which loans are granted to poor people who would normally be rejected by the financial system.
He attempted to found his own party in 2007 to overcome the dualism between the two main parties in the Asian country, Hasina’s Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
In 2010, the Nobel laureate and the Grameen Bank began to face criticism of their microcredit system, and Hasina’s government launched an investigation against both.
Yunus was sentenced to six months in prison by a Bangladeshi court in January for violating labor laws.
The interim government will have the task of restoring order in the streets following the month-long protests for the removal of a quota system for government jobs that ended up demanding Hasina’s resignation after the brutal repression of the demonstrations.
Bangladesh also appointed a new police chief, sacking the controversial incumbent amid a complete collapse in the command structure.
An order issued by the public security division of the country‘s home ministry late Tuesday confirmed the appointment of Traffic and Driving School commandant Mohammad Moinul Islam as the new inspector general of police.
The appointment will be effective immediately, said the order issued by President Shahabuddin and made public by the government.
Islam will replace Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun, who was appointed police chief in September 2022 and got a one-year extension on his contract in July.
Mamun, who was among seven senior police and military officers sanctioned by the United States in December 2021 for their role in human rights violations, oversaw a massive crackdown on students during the recent protests.
More than 400 people were killed in violence between July 16 and Aug. 5, which included nearly two dozen police officers.
Hours before his sacking, Mamun, in a video message, appealed to politicians and student leaders to urge a stop to attacks on police officers and installations.
Police bore the brunt of retaliation after Hasina resigned on Monday and fled the country amid a student-people uprising as many police stations were attacked and set on fire.
Dhaka Medical College Hospital police outpost in-charge Bacchu Mia told EFE on Wednesday that 21 bodies were taken to Dhaka Medical College between Monday night and 6 pm on Tuesday and 47 bodies on Monday.
Some of these victims include several members of police, the Rapid Action Battalion, and Border Guard Bangladesh, said Bacchu Mia, without giving any numbers.
Amid such a situation, no police officers were seen discharging their duties on Tuesday and student activists directed traffic on the streets. EFE
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