The president of Bangladesh dissolved the parliament, paving the way for elections to replace Hasina
DHAKA, Bangladesh: Bangladesh's president dissolved parliament on Tuesday, paving the way for new elections to replace the incumbent prime minister, who resigned and fled the country after weeks of violent unrest.
The office of President Mohammad Shahabuddin announced this decision on Tuesday afternoon. Earlier, one of the protest leaders had threatened to return to the streets if the parliament was not dissolved on the same day.
As protesters defied military orders to march on the capital, Hasina resigned and fled the country by helicopter before thousands of demonstrators stormed her official residence and other buildings linked to her party and family.
His resignation came after weeks of protests against a quota system for government jobs turned deadly and sparked a wider challenge to his 15-year rule. The government tried to quell the protests by closing schools, imposing curfews, and deploying troops to fire tear gas, rubber bullets, and live ammunition, which left about 300 people dead, but these heavy-handed tactics only It provoked more discontent.
Bangladesh's president and top military commander said late Monday that an interim government would soon be formed to preside over new elections.
Army chief General Walker Oz Zamam said on Monday he was temporarily taking control of the country as troops tried to quell the unrest. The military has significant political influence in Bangladesh, which has faced more than 20 coups or coups since independence in 1971.
The president of this country, Mohammad Shahabuddin, after meeting with Wakrazamam and opposition politicians, said that the parliament will be dissolved and the national government will be formed as soon as possible, which will lead to new elections.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, who could shepherd Bangladesh's new interim government, is currently in Paris for the Olympics. He called Hasina's resignation “the second day of the country's freedom”. He could not immediately be reached for comment.
A long-time opponent of the leader who was ousted, he was accused of corruption by his government and put on trial on charges he said were motivated by revenge. He received the Nobel Prize in 2006 for his pioneering work in microcredit.
Student organizer Naheed Islam said the protesters would suggest more names for the cabinet, stating that it would be difficult for those in power to ignore their demands.
Dhaka's streets looked calmer on Tuesday, with no reports of fresh violence.
Amidst the celebrations, student Juveria Karim said it was a historic day: “Today we get what we deserve,” he said. “Everybody's happy, everybody's happy.”
Happy protesters were still present at the ousted leader's residence, and some took selfies with soldiers guarding the building, where angry protesters had looted furniture, signs, flower pots and chickens the day before.
But the country was still counting the toll from weeks of violent unrest that produced some of the worst bloodshed since the country's 1971 independence war. Many fear that Hasina's departure will lead to further instability in the populous South Asian country, which is currently grappling with crises ranging from high unemployment to corruption and climate change.
According to media reports that cannot be independently confirmed, the violence just before and after Hasina's resignation left at least 109 people, including 14 police officers, and hundreds of others injured.
Amid security concerns, the capital Dhaka's main airport suspended operations for eight hours.
In the southwestern district of Satkhira, 596 prisoners and detainees escaped from a prison after an attack on the facility on Monday evening, United News Agency of Bangladesh reported, as police stations and security officials were attacked across the country.
Police in Dhaka have left most of their stations and gathered in a central barrack fearing attacks after several stations were set on fire or vandalized.
Bangladesh's main opposition nationalist party on Tuesday urged people to exercise restraint in what it called a “transitional moment in our democratic journey”.
Tariq Rahman, interim president of the party, wrote on the X social page: “If the people decide to take the law into their own hands without due process, the spirit of the revolution that overthrew the illegitimate and autocratic regime of Sheikh Hasina will fail.” .
In a statement on Monday, the United Nations human rights chief, Volker Turk, said the transfer of power in Bangladesh must be “in line with the country's international obligations” and “inclusive and for the meaningful participation of all Bangladeshis.”
The Indian Express reported that Hasina landed at a military airport near New Delhi on Monday after leaving Dhaka and met India's National Security Adviser Ajit Doval. It is stated in this report that Hasina has been transferred to a safe house and will probably travel to Britain.
The 76-year-old was elected to a fourth consecutive term in a January vote boycotted by her main opponents. Thousands of opposition members were jailed before the vote, and the United States and Britain called the result unreliable, although the government defended it.
