DHAKA, Bangladesh: Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus appealed to the country’s “patience” to prepare for much-awaited elections in a speech to the nation marking 100 days in power since a student-led revolution.
The 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner was appointed to lead the government as “chief advisor” on August 9, days after the student-led uprising that ended Sheikh Hasina’s 15 years of rule.
Yunus, a microfinance pioneer, is leading a temporary administration, to tackle what he has called the “extremely tough” challenge of restoring democratic institutions in the South Asian nation of some 170 million people.
Vowing an election commission will be formed “within a few days”, Yunus said he could not give a timeframe for elections, saying it was dependent on election and constitutional reforms.
“I promise that we will hold the much-anticipated election once the necessary and essential reforms are complete,” he said in the broadcast.
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“I request your patience until then. We aim to build an electoral system that will endure for decades. For this, we need some time.”
Yunus said his administration was also focused on ensuring those guilty of cracking down on the protests to oust Hasina faced justice, and said he had spoken to Karim Khan, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
Bangladesh has issued an arrest warrant for 77-year-old Hasina — last seen arriving in neighbouring India after leaving Dhaka.
Hasina has been summoned to appear in court in Dhaka on Monday to face charges of “massacres, killings, and crimes against humanity”, but she remains in exile in India.
“We have already taken initiatives to try those responsible for enforced disappearances, murders, and the mass killings during the July-August uprising,” Yunus said. – AFP
