“Let us continue practicing democracy,” said Yunus, who has been overseeing the country’s post-uprising transition since 2024.
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Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus has announced that he will resign to pave the way for a new government, which was elected a few days ago.
Yunus said in a farewell broadcast to the nation on Monday that the caretaker government he oversees is “resigning.”
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“But don’t stop practicing democracy, freedom of speech and fundamental rights that have begun,” he said.
Yunus, an 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner, returned from self-imposed exile as Bangladesh’s chief adviser in August 2024 after a student-led uprising toppled Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government.
Bangladesh held its first general election since the riots on February 12, and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by Tariq Rahman, won a landslide victory.
Rahman, the scion of one of the country’s most powerful political dynasties, will be sworn in as prime minister of the next government at an inauguration ceremony on Tuesday, Bangladeshi media said.
Yunus praised the recent elections, which European Union observers described as “credible and competently run” as a “benchmark for future elections”.
“The people, voters, political parties and institutions involved in the election have set a commendable example,” Yunus said.
“We must remain united.”
Rahman’s BNP-led alliance won at least 212 seats in the 300-member parliament and was given a strong mandate to lead the party. The Jamaat-e-Islami party came in second place with 77 seats, making it the main opposition party. Hasina’s Awami League was banned from participating.
Responding to his party’s victory, Rahman appealed for unity, saying, “Our paths and opinions may differ, but we must remain united for the good of the country.”
In addition to electing new representatives, Bangladeshi voters supported sweeping democratic reforms in a referendum.
The lengthy reform document, known as the “July Charter” after the month in which the uprising that toppled Hasina’s government began, proposes term limits for the prime minister, the creation of an upper house of parliament, stronger presidential powers and greater independence of the judiciary. It enshrines a key pillar of Yunus’ post-uprising transition plan.
The referendum pointed out that if approved, the charter would be “binding” on the winning party in the election, making it mandatory to support it.
Yunus praised the reforms, saying they had “cleaned up the ruins, rebuilt institutions, and paved the way for reform.”
However, several political parties have raised doubts before the vote, and the reforms will still need approval from the new parliament.
“The challenge now is to ensure good governance, law and order, public safety and establish a rights-based state. This was central to the aspirations of the 2024 popular uprising,” Rezaul Karim Roni, a Dhaka-based political analyst, told Al Jazeera.
