Muhammad Yunus has been sworn in as head of a new caretaker government in Bangladesh in a ceremony that began with a minute’s silence to remember those who were killed in the recent protests.
The swearing-in, led by President Mohammed Shahabuddin, was attended by more than 1,500 guests including politicians, students, protest coordinators and representatives from the military and civil society. Other members of the interim government also took their oaths.
Earlier, the entrepreneur and Nobel laureate had given an emotional speech to waiting reporters at Dhaka airport on his arrival in the country to take up his position.
Yunus said he hoped to restore calm and rebuild Bangladesh after the uprising that ended the 15-year, increasingly autocratic rule of the former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
Yunus landed at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal international airport on Thursday afternoon after a trip to France for medical treatment. He was welcomed by Bangladesh’s military chief, Gen Waker-Uz-Zaman, who was flanked by leaders of the navy and air force. Some of the student leaders who led the uprising against Hasina were also there. They had proposed him as interim leader to President Shahabuddin, who is acting as chief executive under the constitution. (The Guardian)
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