Bangladesh’s chief justice resigns as Yunus-led interim government starts work

Bangladesh’s chief justice Obaidul Hassan has resigned following protests by students and other demonstrators as the country’s interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus started work.

The move came just days after prime minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to resign and flee to India.

Asif Nazrul, the law, justice and parliamentary affairs adviser to the interim government, said in a video message that his office received the chief justice’s resignation letter and they would forward it to the country’s figurehead President Mohammed Shahabuddin for further procedures.

Five other top judges in the supreme court also resigned later on Saturday, in an attempt by the new government to reorganise the judiciary.

Tensions rose on Saturday morning after the chief justice called for a meeting of the judges of the country’s high court and the supreme court to discuss the working of the judiciary under the new government.

The protesters thronged the court premises and demanded that the chief justice and other judges of the top court step down.

A key student leader Asif Mahmud – who was appointed as an adviser at the ministry of youth and sports – urged his supporters to gather at the court premises to press for an unconditional resignation.

On Thursday, Mr Yunus was sworn in, and 16 other members were included in his interim cabinet, who were drawn mainly from civil society and included two student protest leaders after the President dissolved parliament.

New cabinet members were chosen after talks earlier this week between student leaders, civil society representatives and the military.

Protests by students began in July against a quota system for government jobs that critics said benefited people with connections to Ms Hasina’s party.

She resigned and fled to India on Monday after the protests morphed into a movement against her government, leaving more than 300 people dead including students and police officers in the ensuing violence.

Mr Yunus, who was awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for his work developing micro-credit markets, was in Paris for the Olympics when he was chosen for the interim role.

He called for peace and promised to bring reforms.

The interim government is expected to announce a new election, but it is not clear how long they wish to stay in power and when the elections could be held.

The country’s main opposition demanded a new election in three months, but that is unlikely to happen, according to analysts.

Mr Nazrul said that the Yunus-led government would remain in power as long as necessary, trying to address the desires of people and political parties for “reforms” and “election”.

Ms Hasina’s Awami League party has not said anything specific about the election timeframe, but her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy said that an election without their party would not be acceptable as it is “the largest” party in Bangladesh.

Mr Yunus, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for helping the poor through his rural finance organisation — had a frosty relationship with Ms Hasina, who had called him a “bloodsucker” allegedly for using force to extract loan repayments from rural poor, mainly women. Yunus denied the allegations.

He faced many court cases and was convicted by a court for violating the country’s labour law and sentenced to six months in jail. But he was bailed upon appeal, and before his appointment, he was acquitted of the charges.

Mr Yunus was quickly selected as the head of the interim government when Ms Hasina’s downfall created a vacuum and left the future uncertain for Bangladesh, which has a history of military rule and myriad crises.

Ms Hasina, 76, was elected to a fourth consecutive term in January, but the vote was boycotted by her main opponents, with thousands of opposition activists detained beforehand.

The US and UK denounced the result as not credible. Ms Hasina’s critics say her administration increasingly was marked by human rights abuses and corruption, and was following a streak of authoritarianism.

The chaos on Bangladesh’s streets continued after her resignation on Monday. Dozens of police officers were killed, prompting police to stop working across the country.

The military is helping police officers to return to work but it will take some time to restore the police administration to its full functionality.