In Sri Lanka Redux, another South Asian leader fled the country.
In rapid developments in the political space in Bangladesh a military helicopter with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who had resigned took off from Gono Bhawan at around 2:30pm on July 05.
At the time, Sheikh Rehana her sister was with her reported the AFP.
Sources concerned said they in helicopter set out for West Bengal of India. This comes as protestors entered the Gono Bhawan the official residence of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh.
Hasina has resigned from her post as the Prime Minister which was a demand of the protestors who had been holding her responsible for the violent targeting of the students movement.
AFP reported that Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana had reached a safe location presumably somewhere in India. It is not clear if the militarry helicopter was of the Bangladesh Air Force.
This scene was a grim reminder of how Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled from Colombo in July 2022 under similar circumstances as protestors stormed his palace in Colombo.
Bangladesh Chief of Army Staff General Waker-Uz-Zaman has announced that an interim government, with the participation of all parties, will be formed soon after Prime Minister Shiekh Hasina resigned from her post.
He said: “After holding a fruitful discussion with all political parties, we have decided to form an interim government. We will speak with President Mohammed Shahabuddin now to resolve the situation.”
Professor Asif Nazrul from the Law Department of Dhaka University has been asked to issue a statement to request that the student to call off the protest.
No members of the Awami League was present at the meeting with the political parties at the army headquarters.
Senior Co-Chairman of the Jatiya Party, Anisul Islam Mahmud, and the party’s Secretary General Mujibul Haque Chunnu were also invited to the meeting.
The Army Chief called for a halt to all violence in the name of protest and promised that the new government will ensure justice for all the deaths that took place during the Anti-Discriminatory Student Movement.
The president of Bangladesh Mohammed Shahabuddin continues to hold his office and it is anticipated that he will seek the guidance from the army in the background all parties national government is likely in which the Awami League is unlikely participate.
Opposition parties are likely to seek fresh elections however prior to that it is anticipated that a technocratic government will be in office restoring order and create favourable atmosphere for holding polls.
In the Interim it is expected that the Army will have a defining political role though it is unlikely to come to the front but support either a technocratic government followed by an all party government.
The role of president also assumes the importance as he has not resigned but in the future there will be a demand for the same nevertheless the army chief may seek continues to have a degree of stability.
The situation is not new to Bangladeshas then Chief of the army Staff General Moeen Uddin Ahmed Moeen was the key force behind the declaration of emergency in the country on 11 January 2007 widely known as 1/11 phenomenon.
Comments