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Bangladesh President Mohammad Shahabuddin today ordered the release of former Prime Minister and opposition leader Khaleda Zia, as well as demonstrators arrested during protests. The move came hours after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country, BTA reported, citing AFP.
A statement released by the office said that at a meeting chaired by Shahabuddin, “it was unanimously decided to immediately release Ms. Khaleda Zia, the chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP),” as well as “all those arrested during the student protests,” the statement said.
“The meeting decided to form an interim government immediately,” the statement added.
The meeting was attended by Army Chief General Waqel Uz Zaman, Navy and Air Force chiefs and leaders of several opposition parties including the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami.
The Army also announced in a statement Lift curfew and reopen “offices, factories, schools, universities” and retail stores tomorrow at 06:00 local time (00:00 GMT).
Sheikh Hasina has been facing protests since last month demanding an end to the quota system for civil service appointments, which ultimately led to her ouster.
Hasina was in power for about 15 years and fled Bangladesh not long ago. Protesters stormed her home in the capital Dhaka and looted it following clashes across the country that left nearly 100 people dead.
Her main rival, 78-year-old Khaleda Zia, is in poor health and has been hospitalized since she was sentenced to 17 years in prison for corruption in 2018, AFP recalled.
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