Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina resigns, flees country, military takes over

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule of the country ended on Monday as she fled weeks of deadly protests and the military announced it would form an interim government.

Hasina had sought since early July sought to quell nationwide protests against her government, but she fled after a brutal day of unrest on Sunday in which nearly 100 people died.

In a broadcast to the nation on state television, Bangladesh’s army chief Waker-Uz-Zaman said on Monday, Hasina had resigned, and the military would form an interim government.

“I am taking full responsibility,” the general said, dressed in military fatigues and cap, although it was not immediately clear if he would head a caretaker government.

“We will form an interim government,” Waker said in a broadcast to the nation on state television, adding that Sheikh Hasina had resigned.

“The country has suffered a lot, the economy has been hit, many people have been killed – it is time to stop the violence,” he added.

“I hope after my speech, the situation will improve.”

He said he would talk to the president to form the interim government and had held talks with the main opposition parties and civil society members – but not Hasina’s Awami League.

Waker is a career infantry officer who has spent nearly four decades in the military, serving two tours as a UN peacekeeper as well as in the prime minister’s office.

“If the situation gets better, there is no need for emergency”, he said, vowing the new authorities would “prosecute all murders” following weeks of deadly protests.

“Now the task of the students is to keep calm and help us,” he said.

Bedecked with medal ribbons on his green uniform, the mild-looking and spectacle-wearing officer was appointed to the military’s top job