The Key People Who Will Shape Bangladesh’s Future

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(Bloomberg) — After a tumultuous week in Bangladesh, an interim government is now in place to begin the difficult work of bringing stability and order to the South Asian nation.

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus will helm the temporary government made up of a team of 16 other advisers, including two leaders of the student-protest movement that swept the country in recent weeks. 

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The inauguration of the temporary government on Thursday brought to an end a four-day power vacuum after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India following street protests that left hundreds dead.

The people helping Yunus’s new government include the general who oversaw Hasina’s exit, as well as a veteran civil servant. The son of Former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia is also emerging as a key voice. 

Here’s a closer look at some of the key figures who are tasked with shaping Bangladesh’s future: 

Muhammad Yunus, 84

Yunus, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his pioneering work on microfinance, is now the principal leader in charge of rebuilding Bangladesh after he was sworn in as the interim government’s chief adviser, a rank equivalent to prime minister. 

His appointment to the post meets a chief demand of the student protesters in Dhaka. He faces the giant task of restoring law and order following weeks of violence. 

Yunus suffered legal peril at the hands of Hasina’s government, was charged with crimes that he denied and that human-rights lawyers called politically motivated. He has frequently been portrayed as Hasina’s nemesis. Yunus described Hasina’s regime as a “cruel authoritarian” government and her downfall as a “second liberation.”

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Waker-Uz-Zaman, 57

Zaman was appointed army chief on June 23 by Hasina — days before a fledging student protest that grew into the full-fledged anti-government movement. He has called for calm in the wake of the protest movement and is expected to help prevent reprisal killings after Hasina’s exit. 

Before Yunus took over, Zaman said the Bangladesh army would cooperate with the interim administration. The involvement of the army in the new government has put a spotlight on Bangladesh’s history of military takeovers in the wake of political turmoil, though the military has not explicitly called their involvement a coup. 

Zaman said on television that he is taking responsibility for the country. He said he has been working with the civilian president and listening to some of the demands of the students. He also admitted failures in law enforcement after Hasina’s exit.

Salehuddin Ahmed, 79

Ahmed will lead the finance ministry in the interim government, playing a key role in trying to stabilize the economy. He began his career as a teacher before becoming a civil servant and has served as an economic adviser both nationally and internationally. 

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In 2005, during the coalition government of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Jamaat-e-Islami, he was appointed governor of the country’s central bank, a position he held until April 2009. Before his position at Bangladesh Bank, Ahmed was the managing director of Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation, a government-owned funding agency for microcredit operations in Bangladesh. 

He’s often criticized the central bank for failing to improve governance in the banking sector and reduce loan delinquencies. His appointment came days before the central bank governor resigned.

Ahmed obtained his PhD in economics from McMaster University in Canada in 1978. 

Nahid Islam, 26

One of the youngest of the new advisers, Islam was a key figure in the mass uprising that led to the collapse of Hasina’s government. The sociology student at Dhaka University was detained at least twice and said he was tortured by security forces in July during anti-government protests. Authorities said he was taken into safe custody.

Islam, who will head the Telecommunications and Information Technology ministry, said one of the main goals of the interim government would be to establish a “democratic environment” through free and fair elections. He also pledged to reform state agencies, including the country’s Election Commission. 

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“The people of Bangladesh have long been deprived of their voting rights,” he said. “The new government will work to bring back people’s voting rights.” 

A second student protest leader, Asif Mahmud, 26, has also been appointed to Yunus’s team and will head the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

Asif Nazrul, 58

A law professor at Dhaka University, Nazrul built his fame as a political commentator on TV talk shows, often as a fierce critic of Hasina’s government. Before his teaching role, he worked for a weekly magazine and briefly served as a government administrator.

He’ll head the law ministry in the interim government.  

During the anti-government demonstrations he was often seen alongside protest leaders. Nazrul helped shape the outline of the interim government and described Hasina’s regime as a “dark era.”

Tarique Rahman, 56

Rahman is re-emerging as a prominent voice in Bangladesh’s politics. He’s the son of Hasina’s political rival Khaleda Zia, leader of the opposition BNP, who was released from jail last week. Rahman, who lives in exile in London, described Hasina as a “killer” in a recent speech and called on authorities to hold quick elections. 

In 2018, Rahman was sentenced to life imprisonment for his alleged role in a grenade attack on Hasina and her party colleagues that killed 24 people in 2004. Rahman celebrated Hasina’s downfall and congratulated protesters on the mass uprising. 

His future relationship with the interim government hinges on how soon the election is held, with a delayed election likely to create a conflict between the government and his party. 

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