- The army chief says they will try to hold the swearing-in ceremony tomorrow.
- Yunus set to lead interim government following Hasina's ouster
- “Keep calm and get ready to build the country,” says Nobel Laureate Yunus.
DHAKA: Bangladesh Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman said on Wednesday that a new interim government would likely be sworn in on Thursday evening after Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus returned to the country.
“We are doing everything possible to hold the swearing-in ceremony tomorrow,” the general said at a televised news conference. “We could do it around 20:00 (14:00 GMT). Probably about 400 people will attend.”
Yunus will lead Bangladesh through a “democratic process” when he arrives in the country to lead an interim government, army chief Waker-Uz-Zaman said on Wednesday.
“He is very much looking forward to doing that,” the general said in a televised address to the nation. “I am confident that he will be able to lead us through a beautiful democratic process and that we will benefit from it.”
Yunus, who is set to lead an interim government after mass protests ousted the prime minister, on Wednesday called on his compatriots to be “ready to build the country” ahead of his expected return.
The microfinance pioneer and Nobel laureate will lead an interim government after autocratic former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India, the presidency said.
“Stay calm and prepare to build the country,” Yunus said in a statement on Wednesday, a day before his expected return home from France, urging calm after weeks of violence in which at least 455 people were killed.
“If we take the path of violence, everything will be destroyed,” he added.
The appointment came quickly after student leaders called on Yunus, 84 — credited with lifting millions out of poverty in the South Asian country — to lead.
The decision was taken at a meeting with President Mohammed Shahabuddin, the heads of the army, navy and air force, and student leaders, the president's office said in a statement.
Yunus will have the title of senior adviser, according to Nahid Islam, one of the leaders of Students Against Discrimination who participated in the meeting.
