Bangladesh’s President Shahabuddin Dissolves Parliament
Bangladesh military forces, Aug. 6, 2024. Photo: X/ @dajiyuan
August 6, 2024 Hour: 1:35 pm
This decision would facilitate the formation of the interim government announced by Gen. Zaman.
On Tuesday, Bangladesh’s President Mohammed Shahabuddin dissolved parliament, paving the way for the formation of an interim government following the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
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He also ordered the release of jailed former Prime Minister and key opposition leader Begum Khaleda Zia, said a press release from Bangabhaban,
“The decision to dissolve the parliament was taken following the president’s discussions with the three chief of staffs of armed forces, leaders of different political parties, representatives of civil society and leaders of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement,” said the official residence of the President.
Shamsuddin Dider, member of the media wing of Bangladesh Nationalist Party, informed that the party’s chief Khaleda Zia has already been released. The release order came a day after her archrival Hasina resigned and military took power.
On Monday, Hasina fled the country amid violent protests. In a broadcast to the nation, Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman confirmed earlier media reports on Hasina’s resignation and announced the need to form an interim government.
The 76-year-old politician Hasina took office for her fourth straight five-year term as the country’s prime minister in January this year after her ruling Bangladesh Awami League (AL) party won a landslide victory in the parliamentary elections.
In early July, students began peaceful protests to demand the scrapping of a quota system for public employment. Their actions, however, were brutally repressed by the Hasina administration.
On Tuesday, three student leaders proposed the name of 86-year-old intellectual Muhammad Yunus to join Bangladesh’s interim government. A Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2006, Yunus is known worldwide as the “banker of the poor” for founding the Grameen Bank to combat poverty by providing microcredits – small loans to poor people who would normally be rejected by the financial system.
teleSUR/ JF Sources: Xinhua – EFE
