Muhammad Yunus to head interim government in Bangladesh?

After Sheikh Hasina, who?

This is the big question confronting Bangladesh now after its 76-year-old Prime Minister fled the nation after weeks of deadly protest.

Bangladesh's Army chief Waker-Uz-Zaman ruled out a military takeover following Hasina’s resignation, saying an interim civilian government will be formed.

He will call on the country’s President Mohammed Shahabudin tonight to decide the contour of the interim government.

The buzz is that Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus could head an interim government till the next general elections are held. The other names doing the rounds are Salehuddin Ahmed, former governor of the Bangladesh Bank, Jahngir Alam Chowdhury, a retired three-star general of the Bangladesh Army, and Sara Hossain, a prominent lawyer.

Not the first time

This is not the first time Bangladesh will have an interim arrangement after the abrupt end of a regime.

The Bangladesh constitution, in fact, had a provision for a caretaker government until it was scrapped by Hasina’s Awami League government in 2011.

The system was introduced in 1991 through the passage of the 13th amendment to the constitution to hold a democratic election after military dictator, Hussain Muhammad Ershad, was removed from power through a mass uprising.

Caretaker govt duties

As per the now-scrapped system, the interim arrangement was for 90 days, by which time the transition between one elected government to another was to be completed. The caretaker government was mandated only to hold the parliamentary elections.

This time round, it is not clear yet what kind of interim arrangement the current military chief is planning for the country.