Bangladesh’s caretaker government to take oath on Thursday, army chief says

Julhas Alam
| Associated Press Press Agency

Dhaka, Bangladesh — Bangladesh’s army chief said on Wednesday that a caretaker government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus will be sworn in on Thursday evening when he returns from Paris to take over the administration amid a struggle to restore stability after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to resign and flee.

Gen. Waker-Uz-Zaman said in a televised address late Wednesday afternoon that those responsible for the violence since Hasina’s resignation would be held accountable.

Yunus leaves Paris and returns home on Thursday to take the oath of office in the evening.

Speaking to reporters in Paris, Yunis said: “I can’t wait to get home and see what’s happening there and how we can organise ourselves to get out of the mess we’re in.”

Asked when the election would be held, he raised his hand as if to show it was too early to say. “I’ll go and talk to them. I’m just new to this whole area.”

Bangladesh’s main opposition party held a public rally in the capital on Wednesday as the country prepared to form a caretaker government led by the Nobel laureate, following a mass uprising that left hundreds dead and forced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign and flee the country.

Student leaders who have organised weeks of mass protests said they would unveil the full list of the new Cabinet on Wednesday. The streets of Bangladesh were calm after reports of violence against Hasina supporters, police and minority communities that followed her escape to India.

The rally by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party — led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, Hasina’s main rival — came a day after she was released from house arrest, amid a new political situation in the country.

Zia’s release is largely symbolic, as the ailing leader had been out of prison under an executive order by the previous government but was not allowed to travel abroad. Her son and acting party chief, Tarique Rahman, is expected to address the online crowd from his home in London, where he has lived in exile since 2008. He faces several criminal cases.

Zia, who ruled the country from 2001 to 2006, was convicted of corruption in 2018 and sentenced to 17 years in prison. Her party said the charges were politically motivated to keep her out of politics.

The demonstration began in the afternoon, but thousands of Zia’s supporters began gathering outside the party headquarters in Dhaka’s Naya Paltan district before noon.