Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus-led interim government will have no politician, Dhaka Tribune reported on Thursday. Yunus begins his tenure today, days after Awami League supremo Sheikh Hasina was forced to resign as Prime Minister and flee the country.
Among the names of the other advisors who will join Yunus in the interim government are Bangladesh Bank governor Dr Salehuddin Ahmed, Dhaka University Law Department Professor Asif Nazrul, human rights activist Adilur Rahman Khan, and former attorney general and advisor of caretaker government AF Hassan Ariff, Bangladesh daily reported citing sources.
Besides these, former foreign secretary Touhid Hossain, Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) Chief Executive Syeda Rizwana Hasan, two key conveners of the Students Against Discrimination movement Nahid Islam and Asif Mahmud, former armed forces principal staff officer Lt Gen (Retd) Mahfuzur Rahman, minority community leader and former chairman of Rangamati district council Gautam Dewan, eminent lawyer and human rights activist Barrister Sara Hossain, former bureaucrats Dhiraj Malakar, and Deobandi Islamic scholar AFM Khalid Hossain could be part of the interim government.
Dhaka Tribune, citing sources, reported that the advisors of the interim government would be chosen from civil society and various professional fields, and no political leaders would be included. On the size of the interim government, Bangladesh's army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman said it might initially consist of around 15 members. One or two more individuals may be added later, he added.
The daily reported that the chief adviser of an interim government is equivalent to the prime minister, and the other advisors are equivalent to ministers.
The Yunus-led interim government will lead Bangladesh for a certain period and oversee the election to transition power to an elected government.
Jamaat-e-Islami and Khaleda Zia's BNP are the two key forces who played a role in ousting Hasina. After Hasina left the country, there were fears that radical forces like Jamaatis may enter the government.