The office of Bangladesh’s president announced early Wednesday that Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus will head the South Asian nation’s interim government following the recent resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The decision to appoint the prominent economist to lead the embattled country reportedly came amid discussions with senior military officials, civic leaders, and representatives from the protest movement that drove the 76-year-old from power.
The impoverished former British colony has been experiencing several weeks of violent demonstrations, mainly led by student groups, in opposition to the reinstatement of a civil service quota system that guaranteed 30 percent of public employment positions to relatives of veterans who fought in the country's war of independence.
Many critics of the plan claimed it was crafted to benefit members of Hasina's Awami League political party and was linked to her reputation for corruption and the persecution of ideological opponents.
Yunus, a prominent critic of Hasina who referred to the prime minister’s removal as a “second liberation day,” had faced corruption charges during her administration, which he has claimed were politically motivated.
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