Bangladesh’s Yunus to step down after April polls, wants to make ‘election right’
Interim leader Muhammad Yunus, the 84-year-old Nobel laureate, said he is focused on democratic reforms and a fair electoral process for a ‘new Bangladesh’
Bangladesh interim leader Muhammad Yunus said there was “no way” he wanted to continue in power after elections he has announced for April, the first since a mass uprising overthrew the government.
The South Asian nation of around 170 million people has been in political turmoil since a student-led revolt ousted then prime minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024, ending her 15-year rule.
Yunus, asked if he was seeking any political post, the 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner said there was “no way”, waving his hands in the air for emphasis.
“I think none of our cabinet members would like to do that, not only me,” he said.
Yunus was answering questions on Tuesday evening after speaking at London’s foreign policy think tank Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs.
He also said he wanted to unveil a “big package” of proposals next month that he dubbed a “July Charter” – one year on since the students launched the demonstrations that toppled Hasina.
The aim of the package, he added, was to overhaul democratic institutions after Hasina’s tenure.