Muhammad Yunus intends to resign as Bangladesh Interim Chief, his cabinet members want him not to: Reports

STC NEWS MONITORING DESK
DHAKA, MAY 23(STC): Muhammad Yunus, the 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate and current chief advisor of the caretaker government, informed his cabinet that he was considering stepping down unless he received full backing from political parties, according to reports appearing in a cross section of media quoting sources from his office.
As per the reports quoting BBC Bangla, Yunus feels it is becoming difficult to continue in his role because the political parties have not reached a mutual understanding.
“The BBC Bangla service reported this at midnight on Thursday, quoting Nhid Islam, leader of the student-led National Citizen Party (NCP), says the reports.
Islam said, “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.”
Another report quoting Islam, who is the convenor of the NCP and closely linked with Yunus since February, said that Yunus has shared his concern about continuing in the current environment.
“I won’t be able to work unless the political parties can reach a common ground,” Yunus is reportedly to have said.
Islam has told the BBC, “I told him to stay strong for the sake of the country’s security, and future and to meet the expectations of the mass uprising.”
He added that he hoped political parties would eventually cooperate with Yunus. “I hope everyone will cooperate with him,” he said.
At the same time, Islam said that if Yunus feels he cannot do his job properly, leaving the post might be the right decision. “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?”
“He wanted to tender his resignation, but his cabinet members persuaded him not to,” a source was quoted as saying by the news agency AFP.
Meanwhile, the reports indicate that Yunus’s ties with the military have reportedly worsened., which had played a major role during last year’s student protest movement.
On Wednesday, reports said that army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman called for elections to be held by December.
(STC)