![[FILE] Bangladeshi Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus (C) talks to the media outside the Dhaka Labor Court in Dhaka, Bangladesh, 01 January 2024. EFE-EPA/MONIRUL ALAM](https://pre.efe.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/rss-efe4a5f803cad20f3a281ce1949b225779db0f7159aw.jpg)
Dhaka, Aug 6 (EFE).— Anti-government protest leaders, who forced Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to step down and flee the country, have proposed Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus as a possible chief adviser to the proposed interim government of crisis-ridden Bangladesh.
In a video released on social media, student protest coordinators said they had decided to form an interim government with Yunus as “the chief advisor.”
They noted that the Nobel laureate was universally accepted and internationally recognized, and that he had “agreed to take responsibility.”
The head of the Bangladesh Army, Waker-Uz-Zaman, announced on Monday the formation of an interim government after Hasina resigned and left the country in a military helicopter amid the pressure of student protests and widespread street violence.
Although Zaman did not reveal any names of future candidates to lead the caretaker government, he claimed to have held meetings with representatives of the main political parties, including the banned Jamaat-e-Islami. However, none from Hasina’s Awami League was present.
However, Hasina’s resignation and departure have not contained the street violence. The country has slipped into chaos, with nearly 100 people losing their lives on Tuesday despite calls for calm from the army and student leaders.
This brings the number of deaths since the start of the student protests at the beginning of July to more than 400.
Three protest coordinators denounced that the violent acts following Hasina’s departure “are being carried out in a planned manner to frustrate the popular student uprising.”
The protests began in early July after the high court ordered the government to restore a 30 percent employment quota for descendants of Bangladesh freedom fighters in the 1971 liberation war, a move that favored followers of Hasina.
Hasina, South Asia’s longest-serving leader, resigned on Tuesday and left Dhaka, ending her 15-year rule. EFE
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