Bangladesh's Interim Government Chief Muhammad Yunus Planning To Resign: Report

Bangladesh's interim government chief Professor Muhammad Yunus mulls resignation as he finds it difficult to work because political parties failed to reach a common ground, BBC Bangla service reported at midnight on Thursday, quoting student-led National Citizen Party (NCP) chief Nhid Islam.

"We have been hearing news of Sir's (Yunus) resignation since this morning. So I went to meet Sir to discuss that issue . . . He said he is thinking about it. He feels that the situation is such that he cannot work," Islam told the BBC Bangla.

The NCP convenor said Chief Adviser Yunus expressed his fear that he would not be able to work in the current situation of the country saying, "I won't be able to work unless the political parties can reach a common ground".

The leader of the NCP, who visibly emerged with Yunus's blessings in February this year, said he told Yunus "to stay strong for the sake of the country's security, and future, and to meet the expectations of the mass uprising".

Islam said he told the chief adviser he expected the political parties would forge unity and cooperate with him, and "I hope everyone will cooperate with him".

The NCP leader, however, said there was no point in Yunus staying if he could not do his work adding, "If the political party wants him to resign now... why he will stay if he does not get that place of trust, that place of assurance?".

Yunus's government in the past two days was exposed to several challenges with a major one involving Bangladesh's presumably consolidated military forces, which played a crucial role during the last year's student-led uprising.

The movement toppled former prime minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League regime and installed Yunus to power and during the protest the army preferred not to launch a crackdown on protestors despite being called out to tame the uprising.

The military, however, extended its hand for Hasina's safe exit to India using an air force plane and installation of Yunus as the chief adviser, effectively the prime minister, in line with the demand of Students against Discrimination (SAD), a large part of which now emerged as NCP.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)