President Dissolves Parliament; Fresh Election Likely In Bangladesh (Photo screengrab @iindrojit)
As the protests seem to be winding down in Bangladesh, which killed over 300 people, President Mohammed Shahabuddin today dissolved the present Parliament, paving the way for a fresh election in the country. The President has also suggested that an interim government would be formed soon to preside over new elections.
With Sheikh Hasina’s ouster from power and fleeing, the military had declared that it would form an interim government in the country. The former Prime Minister left for India as demonstrators marched towards her residence on Monday.
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Notably, the president has also ordered the former Prime Minister and opposition leader Khaleda Zia’s release from house arrest. The head of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the key rival of Hasina’s party, has been in jail. The opposition leader was convicted of corruption charges by government in 2018.
With the former Prime Minister’s resignation, the unrest in the country has appeared to cool down as visuals saw protesters taking selfies with soldiers guarding the buildings in the capital city.
Amid uncertainty over the next moves, there have been reports that Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus is likely to be the chief adviser of the interim government.
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Some student leaders have flagged their ambition for Yunus, a victim of Hasina’s long retribution, to lead the new government. Sources reported that the Nobel Prize winner has agreed to the protesting students’ demand. Yunus was conferred the Nobel Prize in 2006 for his contribution to lifting millions of people out of poverty through his microlending firm.
As a friendly neighbor, India is also closely monitoring the situation in Bangladesh, as the former Prime Minister remains in the country after fleeing from Bangladesh.
The nationwide protest against the quota system for government jobs that the protesters alleged favored people with connections to Hasina’s party has killed many since it started. Though the Supreme Court scaled down the quota system, the protest continued to demand justice for the dead, leading to a call for the resignation of the Prime Minister and for a new government.
#Bangladesh president Mohammed Shahabuddin announces the dissolution of the current parliament which was elected in the general elections held in January this year pic.twitter.com/3ct9BTCVXS
— Indrajit Kundu | ইন্দ্রজিৎ (@iindrojit) August 5, 2024
