Yunus was appointed to the position by Bangladeshi President Mohammed Shahabuddin after he met with student leaders and commanders of the three branches of the armed forces, according to local media reports late Tuesday.
Yunus, 84, and his Grameen Bank – a microcredit institution – won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to lift millions out of poverty by providing small loans of under $100 to the poor in rural Bangladesh.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus has been chosen as the chief advisor to the interim government of Bangladesh. Photo: AP
Student leaders have said they want Yunus to be chief advisor to the interim government, and a spokesperson for Yunus said he has agreed. Yunus is in Paris for a medical procedure and is expected to return to Dhaka soon.
Earlier on Tuesday, President Shahabuddin dissolved parliament , paving the way for an interim government and new elections. His office also announced that the leader of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, had been released from house arrest.
The movement to oust Hasina stemmed from protests against public sector job quotas allocated to the families of veterans of Bangladesh's 1971 war for independence.
Approximately 300 people have been killed and thousands injured in violent protests that have taken place across the country since July.
After protesters stormed and looted Prime Minister Hasina's residence on Monday, the streets of Dhaka were peaceful again on Tuesday. Many schools and businesses remained closed.
However, the Apparel Manufacturers Association said that garment factories, which supply clothing to some of the world's leading brands and are a pillar of the economy, would reopen on Wednesday after being closed due to the riots.
Hasina's escape ended her second 15-year reign in the country of 170 million people, where she had led for a total of 20 of the past 30 years as the head of her father's political party, that of state founder Mujibur Rahman, after his assassination in 1975.
Hasina has flown to India and is staying in a safe house on the outskirts of Delhi. Indian media reports suggest Hasina may travel to the United Kingdom, where she has family, including a niece who is a government minister.
Hindus make up about 8% of Bangladesh's 170 million population and have historically supported Hasina's Awami League party, rather than the opposition bloc which includes a hardline Islamist party.
Bui Huy (according to Reuters, AP, AJ)
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/nguoi-doat-giai-nobel-duoc-bo-nhiem-lam-co-van-truong-chinh-phu-lam-thoi-bangladesh-post306657.html
