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dhaka. Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus said on Tuesday he was willing to lead an interim government in Bangladesh after a wave of protests toppled Sheikh Hasina’s government and the military took control of the country on Monday.
Student leaders leading the protests on Tuesday demanded that Yunus, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for creating a microcredit system for the poor, lead an interim government.
Hasina, 76, has been in power for 15 years. Her final term as prime minister, which began in January, was marked by an opposition boycott of elections they denounced as neither free nor fair.
Hasina resigned on Monday and fled the country following a wave of protests that began in early July with a student movement against a quota system for civil service workers. The mobilization expanded into widespread protests against the government.
been: Military takes control of Bangladesh after prime minister flees during protests
Army Chief of Staff General Waq-Uz Zaman announced on Monday that the military would form an interim government. Bangladesh President Mohammad Shahabuddin also announced on Tuesday the dissolution of parliament, one of the main demands of the students, which coincides with the demands of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
Both groups are now calling for elections within the next three months. Student leaders on Tuesday called on Yunus to lead an interim government.
In a written statement sent to the agency, Yunus expressed his willingness to take on the leadership of an interim government. “I am moved by the confidence of the protesters who want me to lead an interim government,” Yunus declared. “I have always kept my distance from politics… but today, if it is necessary to act in Bangladesh for the sake of my country and the courage of my people, I will do it,” he added in the statement, which calls for free elections.
The army chief will meet student leaders on Tuesday to hear their demands for Yunus’ leadership in the interim administration.
Yunus is known for lifting millions out of poverty by providing microcredit, an initiative that won him the Prince of Concordia Asturias award in 1988. Hasina has criticized him, accusing him of “sucking the blood of the poor.”
Police apologize
On Tuesday, the army reorganized its military leadership and sacked senior officers considered close to Hasina.
He also removed Ziaul Ahsan, an officer associated with the Rapid Action Battalion, a paramilitary force sanctioned by the United States for human rights violations.
At least 432 people have died since the mobilization began, according to the agency’s tally based on reports from police, authorities and hospital doctors. The crisis reached its peak when Hasina fled in a helicopter.
On Monday, riots and clashes left at least 122 people dead. Although tensions eased on Tuesday as businesses reopened and curfews were lifted, 10 people were still killed.
Late on Monday, the head of state ordered the release of those detained during the demonstrations, as well as Hasina’s main political rival, former BNP Prime Minister Jalida Zia, who had been under house arrest for years.
The main police union apologized Tuesday for the shooting of students.
The union said in a statement that police officers were forced to open fire and were later held accountable for the incidents, and announced a strike to guarantee the safety of the force.
Millions of Bangladeshis flooded the streets of the capital Dhaka on Monday after Hasina resigned.
Protesters stormed parliament, set fire to a television station and destroyed statues of Hasina’s father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who led Pakistan’s struggle for independence in 1971.
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