Bangladeshi President names Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus as interim government leader

Dhaka, Aug 6 (EFE).- Bangladeshi President Mohammed Shahabuddin agreed on Tuesday to name economist Muhammad Yunus, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, as head of the interim government after leaders of anti-government protests proposed his candidacy.

Yunus will lead the interim government following the resignation and flight of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from Bangladesh on Monday, Shahabuddin’s press secretary, Mohammad Joynal Abedin, told EFE.

“The president said the country is going through a transition period. It is important to form an interim government as soon as possible to overcome this crisis,” the presidential office added in a statement.

Representatives of the Student Movement Against Discrimination, organizers of the weeks of anti-government protests that brought down Hasina and killed more than 400 people, said at a news conference that the decision was taken after a meeting with the Bangladeshi president and security officials.

“We have given an initial list of the interim government, with representation from civil society and students. We will soon hold talks with the different political parties to finalise it,” said one of the student leaders, Nahid Islam.

Yunus, 84, known as the “banker to the poor,” was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for founding and designing the Grameen Bank to combat poverty in Bangladesh by developing the concept of microcredit, which provides loans to poor people who would normally be rejected by the financial system.

She attempted to found her own party in 2007 to overcome the dualism between the two main parties in the Asian country, Hasina’s Awami League and the Bangladesh National Party (BNP).

In 2010, the Bangladeshi Nobel laureate and the Grameen Group began facing criticism over their microcredit scheme, and Hasina’s government launched an investigation into both.

Yunus was sentenced to six months in prison by a Bangladeshi court in January for violations of labour laws.

The interim government will have the priority of restoring order on the streets, after protests that began a month ago to demand the repeal of a quota system for public employment and ended with the demand for Hasina’s resignation following the brutal repression of the demonstrations.

At least 99 people died in the last day, according to a report compiled by EFE. This brings the death toll since the outbreak began in early July to over 400.

Hasina, South Asia’s longest-serving leader, resigned yesterday and left the country for India, ending her 15-year rule.

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