Grameen Telecom founder Muhammad Yunus has been named chief adviser of Bangladesh's interim government following the resignation and flight of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Hasina fled Bangladesh on Monday following weeks of protests by student groups. The protests were initially organised in opposition to a government jobs quota system that allegedly favoured Hasina’s Awami League party. The focus shifted towards removing Hasina from office after her government organised a violent crackdown which resulted in around 300 protesters losing their lives.
Reuters reports that Yunus, who also founded microfinance group Grameen Bank, was appointed on Tuesday 6th August by Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin following meetings with student leaders and military chiefs.
Yunus is best known as the founder of microcredit lender Grameen Bank, which provides small loans of under $100 to Bangladesh’s low-income workers, particularly in rural areas. Yunus won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for his work with Grameen Bank. In the telecoms sector, he is known for establishing Grameen Telecom, a non-profit that delivers rural telephony services but is also a stakeholder in Grameenphone, Bangladesh’s largest mobile operator.
The leaders of the student protests requested Yunus, 84, as the chief advisor for the interim government. Yunus has expressed support for the protests and a dissatisfaction with the Hasina administration, and his spokesperson confirmed that he has agreed to the appointment.
Shahabuddin dissolved parliament on Tuesday in line with demands from student protest groups to allow the interim government to assume power ahead of new elections. His office has confirmed that Begum Khaleda Zia, former Bangladeshi Prime Minister and current leader of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, has been freed from house arrest.
In June, Yunus was indicted by a Bangladesh court on charges of embezzlement of around US$2 million from Grameen Telecom’s worker’s fund. Yunus has denied any wrongdoing; he is a well-known critic of Hasina and his supporters claim that the charges are politically motivated. In an interview with Reuters, Yunus described the allegations as “very flimsy, made-up stories", adding that Bangladesh had become a “one-party” state under Hasina. It is currently unclear whether the indictment has been dropped.
