Bangladesh's president dissolves parliament, paving way for election to replace Hasina
DHAKA, Bangladesh: Bangladesh's president dissolved parliament on Tuesday, paving the way for new elections to replace the longtime prime minister who resigned and left the country after weeks of violent unrest.
President Mohammed Shahabuddin's office announced the decision on Tuesday afternoon. Earlier, a protest leader had threatened to return to the streets unless parliament was dissolved on the same day.
Hasina resigned and fled the country by helicopter as protesters defied a military curfew to march on the capital, before thousands of protesters stormed her official residence and other buildings associated with her party and family.
Her defection came after weeks of protests against a quota system for government jobs turned into deadly violence, fueling a wider challenge to her 15-year rule. The government tried to stop demonstrations by closing schools, imposing curfews and sending in troops to fire tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition, leading to around 300 deaths, but these heavy-handed tactics only fueled further discontent.
Bangladesh's figurehead president and its top military commander said late Monday that an interim government would soon be formed to preside over fresh elections.
Military chief General Waker-uz-Zamam said on Monday he was temporarily taking control of the country, as soldiers tried to quell the unrest. The military wields significant political influence in Bangladesh, which has faced more than 20 coups or attempted coups since independence in 1971.
Mohammed Shahabuddin, the country's flagship president, said after the meeting with Waker-uz-Zamam and opposition politicians that parliament would be dissolved and a national government would be formed as soon as possible, leading to new elections.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, who may shepherd Bangladesh's new interim government, is currently in Paris for the Olympics. He called Hasina's resignation the country's “second liberation day”. He could not immediately be reached for comment.
A longtime opponent of the ousted leader, he was accused of corruption by her government and faced charges he said were motivated by revenge. He received the Nobel Prize in 2006 for pioneering work on microloans.
Student organizer Nahid Islam said the protesters would suggest more names for the cabinet and suggested it would be difficult for those in power to ignore their wishes.
The streets of Dhaka appeared calmer on Tuesday, with no reports of fresh violence.
Amid the celebrations, student Juairia Karim said it was a historic day: “Today we get what we deserve,” she said. “Everybody's happy, everybody's happy.”
Jubilant protesters still crowded the ousted leader's residence, some posing for selfies with the soldiers guarding the building where angry protesters had looted furniture, paintings, flower pots and chickens a day earlier.
But the country was still counting weeks of violent unrest that caused some of the country's worst bloodshed since the 1971 war of independence. Many fear Hasina's departure could lead to even more instability in the densely populated South Asian nation, which is already dealing with crises from high unemployment to corruption to climate change.
The violence shortly before and after Hasina's resignation left at least 109 people dead, including 14 police officers, and hundreds of others injured, according to media reports, which could not be independently confirmed.
Due to security concerns, the main airport in Dhaka, the capital, suspended operations for eight hours.
In the southwestern district of Satkhira, 596 prisoners and inmates escaped from a prison after an attack on the facility on Monday evening, the United News of Bangladesh agency reported, as police stations and security officials were attacked across the country.
Police in Dhaka mostly left their stations and gathered in a central barracks in fear of attacks after several stations were burnt down or vandalized.
The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Tuesday urged people to show restraint in what it said was a “transitional moment in our democratic path”.
“It would defeat the spirit of the revolution that overthrew Sheikh Hasina's illegitimate and autocratic regime if people decide to take the law into their own hands without due process,” Tarique Rahman, the party's acting chairman, wrote on social media platform X.
In a statement on Monday, UN human rights chief Volker Türk said the transition of power in Bangladesh must be “in line with the country's international obligations” and “inclusive and open to the meaningful participation of all Bangladeshis.”
Hasina landed at a military airfield near New Delhi on Monday after leaving Dhaka and met India's national security adviser Ajit Doval, the Indian Express newspaper reported. The report said Hasina was taken to a safe house and is likely to travel to the UK.
The 76-year-old was elected to a fourth consecutive term in a January vote boycotted by her main opponent. Thousands of opposition members were jailed before the polls, and the US and UK condemned the result as unbelievable, although the government defended it.
