Originally posted in The New York Times on 6 August 2024
Nobel Laureate Tapped to Lead Interim Government in Bangladesh
The new government was being formed a day after Bangladesh’s longtime leader, facing fierce protests, fled the country.
The president of Bangladesh on Tuesday appointed Muhammad Yunus, a pioneer in microfinance and a Nobel laureate, to oversee an interim government, accommodating demands by protesters and offering a reprieve for a country scarred by violence.
The plans for a new government were announced a day after Bangladesh’s authoritarian leader, Sheikh Hasina, resigned and fled the country amid a popular uprising.
Word of the Yunus appointment came from the main coordinator of the protests, Nahid Islam, who was among a group of people who met with President Mohammed Shahabuddin on Tuesday. Military officials also attended the meeting, though Mr. Yunus did not.
With the Bangladeshi Parliament dissolved, Mr. Yunus, 84, is expected to lead a temporary government for an uncertain period of time.
“We are forming a government in an extraordinary situation,” said Asif Nazrul, a law professor at the University of Dhaka who was also present at the meeting with the president. “The tenure of the government is yet to be finalized,” Mr. Nazrul said.
The other members of the interim government will be announced within the next few days, meeting attendees said.
Mr. Yunus, who is widely admired in Bangladesh and once made a brief foray into politics, has two immediate tasks.
First, he will have to restore order to a country of 170 million people that has been roiled by weeks of student protests and violent clashes with security forces that have killed around 300 people.
And second, he will have to define the role of the interim government and what its mandate will be until Bangladesh holds elections to choose a new leader.
For days before Ms. Hasina stepped down, protesters had been demanding her resignation, angered after her government began a brutal crackdown on students who had agitated against a preferential quota system being used for public-sector jobs.
Restoring peace and addressing the incidents of violence and vandalism will be top priorities for the interim government, said Fahmida Khatun, Executive Director at the Centre for Policy Dialogue, a think tank.
“As you can see, there is no order on the streets, a lack of trust in police and there has been significant property damage,” Ms. Khatun said.
Some analysts think Bangladesh may have a chance now to reset.
“It’s an opportune moment for any new interim government in Bangladesh to show solidarity with its people, protect the most vulnerable and not repeat the mistakes of the past,” said Smriti Singh, regional director for South Asia at Amnesty International.
Mr. Yunus will likely have to move quickly to appoint people to stabilize the various government ministries so that the Bangladesh economy doesn’t falter.
Mr. Yunus pioneered the concept of microfinance — lending to people too poor to get bank loans to help them find economic opportunities — and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his work, along with Grameen Bank, the institution he founded in 1983.
In 2007, when Bangladesh was under a military-backed interim government, Mr. Yunus began a political party, offering an alternative to a corruption-riddled political establishment. That party didn’t last long, and Mr. Yunus abandoned the idea.
By then, however, he had offended some powerful figures, including Ms. Hasina, analysts said.