Dhaka: Bangladeshis were filled with joy and hope on Friday as Nobel Prize-winning economist Muhammad Yunus was inaugurated as the new head of government, led by a lawyer, academic and prominent student activist who toppled the previous regime.
The new government took office at the presidential palace in Dhaka on Thursday night, three days after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to resign and flee to neighboring India following weeks of nationwide protests and a deadly crackdown.
“The brutal dictatorship is over,” Yunus said in a televised speech after taking office as president Mohammed Shahabuddin and more than a dozen other members of the caretaker government.
He pledged that “democracy, justice, human rights and full freedom of expression without fear should be available to all, regardless of party affiliation.”
The 84-year-old economics professor will serve as the country’s “chief adviser” and his cabinet position will also be advisory, not ministerial.
They include Nahid Islam and Asif Mahmoud, senior leaders of the Students Against Discrimination movement, which led the protests that toppled Hasina, and civil servants such as former Attorney General Hassan Ariff, former Foreign Minister Tuhid Hossain, and economist and former central bank governor Salehuddin Ahmed.
Also present were prominent human rights activist Adilur Rahman Khan, internationally acclaimed environmental lawyer Syeda Rizwana Hasan, and public intellectual, writer and law professor Asif Nazrul at the University of Dhaka.
As a new government takes office, Bangladeshis are excited about the nomination and hopeful about the future of their country.
“After the chaos and the massive uprisings that we have been experiencing recently, this is a new dynamic,” academic and researcher Gautam Barua told Arab News.
“I have a lot of hope for this caretaker government … I think they will bring about beautiful changes,”
He was delighted to see that a renowned lawyer and economist would be leading the charge.
“I think this cabinet is the best cabinet in the country … recognized globally and recognized both domestically and nationally,” Barua said.
“The country’s economy today needs to be improved… The country’s economy has been in a terrible state under the previous government. So I believe they can improve it. They can turn the economy around.”
Still proud of having a government full of intellectuals and technocrats with great reputation
“I think they can bring about positive changes for us,” said Mahfouz Kaiser, a student in Dhaka. “Dr Yunus is a very famous person. He is a Nobel Prize winner, the first Nobel Prize winner from Bangladesh.”
Yunus, a professor of economics, is a social entrepreneur and banker who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his pioneering work in microfinance, which helped alleviate poverty in Bangladesh and has been widely adopted around the world.
“He will help us rebuild our nation,” said Jannatul Ferdous Mawa, who studies media studies and joined the recent protests.
“I think whatever happens now, it’s good for us because we’ve learned something. From this protest, we’ve learned one thing: if we work together, we can rebuild our country.”
The political change in Bangladesh, which marks the end of Hasina's 15-year rule, comes after nationwide protests began in early July against a government job quota system that has been widely criticized for favoring those linked to the ruling party.
The protests quickly turned violent as security forces clashed with protesters, leaving at least 300 people dead.
After a week of bloody clashes and communications disruptions, the Supreme Court eventually scrapped most of the quotas, but the decision has since cracked down on protesters.
The arrests of 11,000 protesters, most of them students, sparked another round of protests last week that led to a series of lawbreaking moves that led to Hasina's resignation on Monday.
The following day, the president dissolved parliament to make way for a caretaker government that would oversee new elections.
“There is a lot of expectation from this government because it is led by Nobel Prize winner Professor Dr Yunus. I think everyone is looking forward to his work, his progress and his vision. He often says there are three zeros: zero poverty, zero unemployment and net zero carbon. So I think he will work on these three,” Dr Ronak Khan, an anthropology lecturer at the University of Dhaka, told Arab News.
“Our institutional infrastructure, the whole situation, we have to build it. The government needs to ensure transparency and accountability. My expectations of this government are very high. Not just mine, I think everyone expects the same because this government is led by Professor Yunus and it depends on his ability to navigate the complex political landscape of Bangladesh.”
