Bangladesh’s interim leader is reportedly threatening to step down if political parties cannot agree on reforms that citizens have been demanding since last year’s mass agitation.
Muhammad Yunus, 84, took over as interim leader of the South Asian nation of nearly 170 million last August after a street uprising led mainly by students forced Sheikh Hasina to quit as prime minister and flee to India.
Nahid Islam, head of the newly formed National Citizen Party which wants national elections held only after the proposed reforms are in place, said Dr Yunus was finding it difficult to work without the backing of political parties.
“He was visibly upset,” Mr Islam told reporters after meeting the leader on Thursday. “He said if he cannot do the work he was asked to do – reform the system and prepare for fair elections – then he may have to leave. He feels trapped between demands from different political camps and growing public impatience.”
In the aftermath of the agitation that ended Ms Hasina’s 15-year rule, Dr Yunus promised reforms in various sectors, but a lack of progress and growing political disagreement have put his administration in a tight spot. Bangladesh is reeling under economic and political distress and a crisis of law and order.
“We told him clearly that people didn’t rise up just to switch governments but to change the system,” said Mr Islam, whose party emerged out of the student agitation. “Elections without reform will only take us back to the same problems.”
Mr Yunus leaving the interim government when it is caught between competing demands for swift polls and reforms could lead to further uncertainty. Dr Yunus has said national elections could be delayed until 2026.
Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, a special assistant to Dr Yunus and head of the ministry of posts, telecommunications and IT information technology, said the interim leader needed to stay in office for the “sake of Bangladesh and a peaceful democratic transition”.
“The chief adviser is not going to step down. He does not hanker after power,” Mr Taiyeb wrote on Facebook, referring to Dr Yunus by his title.
Dr Yunus allegedly threatened to stand down after thousands of supporters of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party rallied in Dhaka against the interim government for the first time on Wednesday.
The BNP, led by former prime minister Khaleda Zia, has been pushing for polls by December. On Wednesday, BNP leaders said it would be “difficult” to continue supporting the interim government without a firm election plan.
Responding to Mr Islam’s remarks, senior BNP member Abdul Moyeen Khan called for corroboration from Dr Yunus’ office at a time when his interim government’s credibility was at its lowest.
“I would rather say the holy wish of the people of Bangladesh is a dignified exit of Dr Yunus and him honouring the trust put by our people in him for organising a free and fair election at the earliest,” he added.
Adding to the pressure on the interim leader, Bangladesh’s army chief, General Waker-Uz-Zaman, also called for elections to be held in December in a speech at the Dhaka cantonment this week. The general also expressed his dissatisfaction over the political situation in the country.
