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full screen Muhammad Yunus, economist, peace prize winner and now appointed to lead a transitional government in Bangladesh after the flight of the prime minister. Photo: Michel Euler
– Violence is our enemy, let’s not create more enemies, says peace prize winner and economist Muhammad Yunus, who will now be installed as leader in Bangladesh.
He calls for calm after the recent days of tumult in the country.
Yunus, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, has been quickly called in to lead a transitional government since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country following violent protests that claimed many lives.
– Be calm and prepare to rebuild the country, Yunus said when he met journalists at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris on Wednesday, ahead of the return trip and Thursday’s installation in Dhaka.
Yunus has been named to lead a transitional government following an agreement between the military, civil society leaders and student activists. The latter led the unrest that began in discontent over a quota system said to favor supporters of Prime Minister Hasina’s party. But the protests grew to manifest a more general dissatisfaction with Hasina’s 15 years in power.
Hundreds of people, including 14 policemen, have been killed during the unrest.
The plan is for the transitional government led by Muhammad Yunis to prepare for general elections. But nothing has been said about when they will be held in that case.