Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus was named chief adviser of Bangladesh’s interim government on Tuesday, a day after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country following a violent crackdown on a student-led uprising.
Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus – a longtime political foe of Bangladesh’s ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina – has been named the country’s interim leader.
The 84-year-old was appointed a day after Ms Hasina fled the country following weeks of deadly protests calling for her resignation.
While Prof Yunus has been lauded for his pioneering use of microloans, Ms Hasina regarded him as a public enemy – he is currently on bail, appealing a six-month jail term in what he has described as a politically-motivated case
The student leaders had said they wanted Yunus as the interim government’s chief adviser, and a spokesperson for Yunus said he agreed. Yunus is in Paris for a medical procedure and is expected to return to Dhaka soon.
There was no immediate comment from him in response to the appointment. It was also not immediately known when the interim government would take charge.
Earlier Tuesday, Shahabuddin dissolved parliament, clearing the way for the interim government and new elections.
His office also announced that the leader of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Begum Khaleda Zia, a former prime minister who had feuded with Hasina for decades, had been freed from house arrest.
Student protesters had threatened more demonstrations if parliament was not dissolved.
