DHAKA: In an address to the nation, General Waker-Uz-Zaman, the chief of army staff, has confirmed that Sheikh Hasina has resigned and that an interim government would be formed to run the country.
He urged the citizens to trust the army, which, he said, would return peace to the country.
“We will also ensure that justice is served for every death and crime that occurred during the protests,” he said, calling on the public to exercise patience and cease any acts of violence and vandalism.
“We have invited representatives from all major political parties, and they have accepted our invitation and committed to collaborating with us,” the general added.
Hasina, who had ruled the country for two decades, boarded a military helicopter, an aide told Al Jazeera, after crowds ignored a national curfew to storm her palace in Dhaka.
The resignation comes after 300 people have died amid weeks of protest the authorities have sought to crush. Following a night of deadly violence that killed close to 100 on Sunday, tension had remained high on Monday as protesters called for a march on Dhaka and the army prepared to address the nation.
By early afternoon, however, media reported that the mood on the streets had turned to one of celebration after the news of Hasina’s departure spread.
The army chief urged citizens to keep trust in the army, which, he said, would return peace to the country.
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“We will also ensure that justice is served for every death and crime that occurred during the protests,” he said, calling on the public to exercise patience and cease any acts of violence and vandalism.
“We have invited representatives from all major political parties, and they have accepted our invitation and committed to collaborating with us,” the general added.
Who is Sheikh Hasina?
She was once called a “democracy icon” in Bangladesh for her fight against a military regime. But in her 15-year stint since 2008, the Awami League party’s chief was seen as an “authoritarian” leader, accused of rights abuses and a crackdown on opposition.
The 76-year-old won her fourth straight term in a controversial election in January this year, which was boycotted by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and marked by a low turnout.
Born in 1947 in southwestern Bangladesh, then East Pakistan, Hasina is the daughter of the country’s founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who led Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan in 1971.
In 1981, she joined hands with the political foe, BNP chief and former PM Khaleda Zia, to lead a popular uprising for democracy that toppled military ruler Hussain Muhammad Ershad from power in 1990.
Hasina first served a term as prime minister in 1996 but lost to Zia five years later. The pair were then imprisoned on corruption charges in 2007 after a coup by a military-backed government.
She won a landslide in 2008 and had been in power since, though several elections held since then were marked by allegations of fraud and boycotts by the opposition.
