dpa
Dhaka
Bangladeshi President Mohammed Shahabuddin on Tuesday dissolved the national parliament, paving the way for the formation of an interim government after prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s ouster on Monday following mass protests.
The protest organizers have proposed Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, 84, as the head of an interim government.
The situation in the country remained tense as local media reported more than 100 people dead and numerous others injured in widespread violence that erupted after Hasina quit.
Nahid Islam, one of the top coordinators of the protests, said in a video message posted on Facebook early on Tuesday that the 84-year-old Nobel laureate had agreed to take on the role. Yunus, a social entrepreneur, banker and economist, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for pioneering the concepts of microcredit and microfinance.
"The decision for the dissolution of parliament was taken following the president’s discussions with chiefs of three staffs of armed forces, leaders of different political parties, representatives of civil society and leaders of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement,” Bangabhaban, the office of Bangladesh’s ceremonial president, said in a press statement.
The parliament that came into being after the January 7 election was boycotted by major political parties. Hasina became prime minister as her Awami League party had won an overwhelming majority.
The Bangabhaban statement also said that former prime minister Khaleda Zia, who is chairwoman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Hasina’s main political rival, was released. Zia was convicted in graft cases in 2018 and was living at her home in Dhaka after she was conditionally released from the jail.