Bangladesh dissolves national parliament, paving way for new government

Bangladesh dissolved national parliament on Tuesday, paving the way for the formation of a military-backed interim government and fresh elections after the ouster of long-time leader Sheikh Hasina.
 

Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin took the step to dissolve the current parliament and begin a process to form an interim government, according to his press secretary Joynal Abedin. 
 

Shahabuddin directed the authorities to lift the curfew earlier in the day after more than two weeks of clashes between Hasina’s supporters, security forces and student-led protesters. Bangladesh’s powerful army chief Waker-Uz-Zaman is looking to set up an interim government in consultation with the president.
 

What happens next after Hasina, who turned Bangladesh into an economic success and ruled with an iron fist, remains unclear. It is possible the interim government excludes her Awami League party, which won almost 80 per cent of the parliamentary seats in a boycotted vote in January. While Shahabuddin has vowed to hold elections “as soon as possible,” it’s unclear if Hasina’s allies will be able to participate or return to power. 
 

Thousands of jailed protesters were freed, as well as Hasina’s rival and opposition leader Khaleda Zia — a former prime minister herself. The student-led protesters are pushing for Nobel Peace Prize winning economist Muhammad Yunus to lead the interim government. 
 

Investors are betting on a smooth transition with a key Bangladesh stock index surging by the most since March 2020. Still, the interim government will have to focus on the economy that has struggled to gain its footing since the pandemic and has come under pressure from the curfews and recent internet blackouts. 
 

The new government may also have to negotiate with the International Monetary Fund and other creditors for more cash to bolster dwindling reserves. The multilateral lender, which approved a $4.7 billion loan program last year, said it would continue to “support efforts to ensure economic stability and deliver inclusive growth,” according to a Reuters report. 
 

“These events in Bangladesh could not have come at a worse time given that it was regaining some amount of macro-stability after having taken the tough policy measures linked to the IMF program,” said Ruchir Desai, fund manager at Asia Frontier Capital, which has been adding to its position in Bangladesh stocks in the past two months. 
 

Hasina, who fled the country to India by helicopter shortly before protesters ransacked the presidential palace, hasn’t spoken publicly. Indian television channel News18 reported she is stationed at Hindon airbase on the outskirts of New Delhi for the next few days. 
 

Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said Hasina had requested approval “to come for the moment to India,” confirming a Bloomberg news report. She was initially heading for the UK though it is increasingly unclear where she will go from India. 
 

“The situation in Bangladesh is still evolving,” Jaishankar told Indian parliament on Tuesday. “In the last 24 hours, we have also been in regular touch with the authorities in Dhaka.”

Iron Hands

Hasina was the world’s longest serving female head of a government, winning a fourth term as prime minister in an election in January that was boycotted by her opponents and voters. The US, the biggest buyer of Bangladesh’s exports, had criticized the polls, and imposed visa curbs on members of Hasina’s party and law enforcement officials in September.
 

While the Awami League party dominates parliament, the army chief invited none of its members to talks on forming an interim government. The constitution, if it were followed, requires any prime minister to command majority support in parliament. Officials in her party didn’t answer calls seeking comment on Monday.
 

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Monday that Washington welcomes the forming of an interim government and that all decisions “should be made with respect to democratic principles, rule of law and the will of the Bangladeshi people.”
 

“We are focused now on supporting an end to the violence and accountability,” Miller said. 
 

Hasina had faced pressure to resign for weeks as the demonstrations turned deadly. Local TV channels showed protesters looting her official residence on Monday afternoon, taking away furniture and food. 
 

What started out in late June as peaceful protests seeking to abolish a government jobs quota turned into deadly unrest in recent weeks with demonstrators seeking to oust Hasina who showed little sign of backing down at the time. Her sudden resignation follows a weekend of student-led clashes with pro-government supporters that pushed the death toll from the violence since mid-July to about 350 people, according to news reports and data from local hospitals and police stations. 
 

On Monday, thousands of students defied a government-imposed curfew to march through Dhaka, chanting “We will not go back.” TV channels showed troops trying to control huge crowds of people who had walked through the night to the capital to take part in the protests. A few jubilant demonstrators were seen hugging soldiers. 
 

Hasina’s father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was killed in a coup in 1975 when he was prime minister. Protesters took hammers to a statue of the independence leader in Dhaka.  
 

Hasina’s son and former official adviser, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, said his mother had not done anything wrong and had provided the “best government in the country.”
 

“She is disappointed and disheartened,” he told India Today. “She fought militancy with iron hands, she is done.”

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