Bangladesh PM has resigned, interim govt to run country
Bangladesh’s army chief Wakeruz Zaman said on Monday he will form an interim government after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled Dhaka in the face of overwhelming protests.
Since late July, Bangladesh has been engulfed by protests and violence that has so far claimed the lives of at least 300 people, according to an AFP tally based on police, government officials and doctors at hospitals.
Protesting student groups have demanded the scrapping of a controversial quota system in government jobs, which escalated into a campaign to seek the ouster of Hasina, who won a fourth straight term in January in an election boycotted by the opposition.
Earlier today, students in Bangladesh called for a march to Dhaka in defiance of a nationwide curfew, a day after deadly clashes in the country killed at least 91 people.
“We will form an interim government,” Waker said in a broadcast to the nation on state television, adding Sheikh Hasina had resigned.
“After holding a fruitful discussion with all political parties, we have decided to form an interim government. We will speak with President Mohammed Shahabuddin now to resolve the situation,” Bangladesh’s Dhaka Tribune quoted the army chief as saying.
Jubilant-looking crowds waved flags, peacefully celebrating including some dancing on top of a tank, as a source close to the embattled leader said she had left her palace in the capital for a “safer place”.
According to multiple media outlets, including the BBC and Reuters, Hasina has fled to India. After she fled, cheering protesters stormed her palace the culmination of more than a month of deadly anti-government protests.
Hasina’s son urged the country’s security forces to block any takeover from her rule, while a senior advisor told AFP that her resignation was a “possibility” after being questioned as to whether she would quit.
“She wanted to record a speech, but she could not get an opportunity to do that,” the source close to Hasina told AFP.
The army chief told officers on Saturday that the military “always stood by the people”, according to an official statement.