DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh’s military chief said Wednesday that an interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus would be sworn in on Thursday night as he returns from Paris to take over the administration and try to restore stability in the country, after an uprising forced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to step down and flee to neighboring India. Gen. Waker-Uz-Zaman said in a televised address late Wednesday afternoon that the responsible for the violence since Hasina’s resignation would be brought to justice.
The military chief, flanked by the chiefs of navy and air force, said that he spoke to Yunus and would receive him at the airport on Thursday. Zaman said he was hopeful that Yunus would take the situation to a “beautiful democratic” process. Speaking to reporters in Paris, Yunus said “I’m looking forward to going back home and seeing what’s happening there, and how we can organize ourselves to get out of the trouble that we are in.
′′ Asked when elections would be held, he put his hands up as if to indicate it was too early to say. ′′I’ll go and talk to them. I’m just fresh in this whole area.
′′ Earlier on Wednesday, ailing opposition leader and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia urged all not to follow the path of destruction in Bangladesh as she addressed her supporters from a hospital bed at a rally in Dhaka. It was her first public speech since 2018, when she was convicted of corruption charges and jailed. �.