Yunus takes oath as head of Bangladesh’s interim government

Dhaka: Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus on Thursday took oath as the head of an interim government, replacing Sheikh Hasina who abruptly resigned and fled to India leaving the country in turmoil following deadly protests against her government over a controversial quota system in jobs.

Yunus, 84, was administered the oath of office by President Mohammed Shahabuddin at a ceremony at the presidential palace ‘Bangabhaban’.

A 16-member council of advisers was announced to assist Yunus in running the state’s affairs. Md. Nahid Islam and Asif Mahmud, two key organisers of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, were also part of the advisory council.

Women’s rights activist Farida Akhtar, right-wing party Hefazat-e-Islam’s deputy chief AFM Khalid Hossain, Grameen Telecom trustee Nurjahan Begum, freedom fighter Sharmeen Murshid, chairman of Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board Supradip Chakma, Prof Bidhan Ranjan Roy and former foreign secretary Touhid Hossain are among the advisory council members.

Yunus was sworn in as the chief advisor - a position equivalent to prime minister.

Leaders of political parties, judges, representatives of various organisations, chiefs of the three services, inspector general of police, senior military and civil officers, diplomats, freedom fighters, senior journalists and other dignitaries were present at the ceremony.

Roy, Chakma and Bir Pratik Faruk-e-Azam could not take the oath as they were outside Dhaka.

The interim government will lead the country for a certain period and oversee the election to transition power to an elected government.

Ahead of taking the oath, Yunus promised to deliver a government which assures safety to its citizens and urged them to assist him in rebuilding the protest-torn country, as he described the ouster of Hasina as the country’s “second independence”.

Bangladesh witnessed deadly unrest in recent weeks. Over 500 people, including police personnel, were killed in the violence centring the students’ movement. Many of those killed died after the Supreme Court backed student demands and largely scrapped the quota system last month.

The Army chief, who first announced the formation of an interim government, did not disclose the possible tenure of the government.

Gen Zaman hoped that normalcy would return within three to four days as the situation across the country is improving significantly.