Bangladesh: Muhammad Yunus to continue as interim govt chief, says adviser amid resignation buzz

Amid political turmoil in Bangladesh, Bangladesh interim government chief Muhammad Yunus will remain the head of the interim government.

 

"Yunus didn't say he will leave. He said that while we face many obstacles in carrying out the work and responsibilities assigned to us, we are overcoming them," Planning Adviser Wahiduddin Mahmud told reporters at the advisory council meeting held on Saturday. 

 

Yunus is definitely staying, Mahmud added. 

 

A rift between Yunus and the army chief General Waker-uz-Zaman has spread the rumours of the former's resignation. Reportedly, the military was pushing for the elections as Yunus was to remain in control till the next elections were held in the country. 

 

Yunus became the head of the interim government after the ouster of Sheikh Hasina last year. The makeshift arrangement was to last until the elections. 

 

Meanwhile, chief advisor Mahmud's decision to stay in office came two days after he told student-led National Citizen Party (NCP) leaders that he was mulling resignation as he felt the situation is such that he cannot work. It is said that Yunus has citied difficulties in working amid the failure of political parties to find common ground for change.

 

An unscheduled advisor council meeting was called by Yunus on Saturday, where 19 advisers--effectively ministers--joined the closed-door meeting. 

 

The discussions were focused on the elections, Yunus's reform agenda and the belated July Proclamation. 

 

Yunus is expected to meet leaders of the former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami later in the day following the political turmoil. 

 

After the ouster of the Awami League regime in August last year, the BNP has emerged as the key player in the political arena. 

 

Jamaat leader Syed Abdullah M. Taher said that the government had announced that the elections would be held between December and June. Since there is no roadmap set on the elections, there is an urgent one required for structual reforms in politics and state governance. 

 

Yunus's resignation development came amid reports of a rift between the military and the interim government involving the proposed humanitarian corridor of aid channel to Myanmar's rebel-held Rakhine state. 

 

Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman met Yunus along with the navy and air force chiefs and conveyed their reservation about the corridor issue. 

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