Bangladesh’s army chief was due to meet student protest leaders Tuesday, a day after the military took control as mass demonstrations forced longtime ruler Sheikh Hasina to flee the country.
Hasina, 76, had been in power since 2009 but was accused of rigging elections in January and then watched millions of people take to the streets over the past month demanding she quit.
Hundreds of people died as security forces sought to quell the unrest, but the protests grew and Hasina finally fled Bangladesh aboard a helicopter on Monday as the military turned against her.
Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman announced Monday afternoon on state television that Hasina had resigned and the military would form a caretaker government.
“The country has suffered a lot, the economy has been hit, many people have been killed — it is time to stop the violence,” said Waker, shortly after jubilant crowds stormed and looted Hasina’s official residence.
Student protest leaders, ahead of the expected meeting with the army chief, said Tuesday they wanted Nobel laureate and microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus, 84, to lead the government.
“In Dr. Yunus, we trust,” Asif Mahmud, a key leader of the Students Against Discrimination (SAD) group, wrote on Facebook.
Yunus has not commented on the call, but in an interview with India’s The Print, he said Bangladesh had been “an occupied country” under Hasina.
