Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus chosen to lead interim government in Bangladesh
Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has been chosen to lead the interim government in Bangladesh.
The decision was taken at a crucial meeting chaired by Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin. The development came a day after Sheikh Hasina resigned as Prime Minister and fled the country.
Yunus, known as ‘banker to the poor’ for his work in fighting poverty, was the top choice of protesting students to be the chief adviser to the interim government.
The students’ proposal to make him the leader of the interim government was accepted at the meeting. The meeting was attended by the students leading the quota agitation, and the chief of three forces.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, the student leaders said they have been assured that the interim government will be formed shortly under the leadership of Yunus.
They have submitted a list of names including 10-14 prominent individuals to be part of the interim government.
The 83-year-old was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his pioneering work in helping millions of people out of poverty.
Yunus has been charged by the Hasina government in over 190 cases and has had several tussles with the Sheikh Hasina government in the past.
He was reportedly forced out as managing director of Grameen Bank on the grounds that he was over the legal retirement age of 60.
A Daily Star report earlier said that the coordinators of the student movement that led the protests in the country wanted Yunus to lead the interim government.
In a video posted on social media, Nahid Islam, one of the key coordinators of the movement that led to the ouster of Sheikh Hasina, said Professor Yunus had agreed to take on the responsibility considering the present situation of the country.
“We have decided that an interim government will be formed in which internationally renowned Nobel Laureate Dr Mohammad Yunus, who has wide acceptability, will be the chief adviser,” Nahid of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement announced.
Muhammad Yunus, born in 1940 in Chittagong, studied at Dhaka University before moving to the United States to pursue economics at Vanderbilt University.
Yunus was convicted for violating the country’s labour laws.