‘Let the practice of democracy continue,’ said Yunus, who has overseen the country’s post-uprising transition since 2024.
Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus has announced he is resigning to pave way for a new government elected several days ago.
Speaking in a farewell broadcast to the nation on Monday, Yunus said the interim government he oversees “is stepping down”.
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“But let the practice of democracy, freedom of speech, and fundamental rights that has begun not be halted,” he said.
An 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner, Yunus returned from self-imposed exile in August 2024 to serve as Bangladesh’s chief adviser after a student-led uprising toppled the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Bangladesh held its first general elections since that uprising on February 12, and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by Tarique Rahman, won a landslide victory.
Rahman, a scion of one of the country’s most powerful political dynasties, is set to serve as prime minister of the incoming government when it is sworn in on Tuesday, according to Bangladeshi media.
Yunus praised the recent elections, which European Union observers called “credible and competently managed” as a “benchmark for future elections”.
“The people, voters, political parties, and stakeholder institutions linked to the election have set a commendable example,” Yunus said.
‘We must remain united’
Rahman’s BNP-led alliance won at least 212 seats in the 300-seat parliament, giving it a strong mandate to lead. In second place was the Jamaat-e-Islami party, which won 77 seats, positioning it as the main opposition party. Hasina’s Awami League party was barred from participating.
Rahman appealed for unity in the wake of his party’s victory, saying “our paths and opinions may differ, but in the interest of the country, we must remain united”.
In addition to electing their new representatives, Bangladeshi voters also endorsed sweeping democratic reforms in a national referendum.
The lengthy document of reforms, known as the “July Charter” after the month when the uprising that toppled Hasina began, proposes term limits for prime ministers, the creation of an upper house of parliament, stronger presidential powers and greater judicial independence. It enshrines a key pillar of Yunus’s post-uprising transition agenda.
The referendum noted that approval would make the charter “binding on the parties that win” the election, obliging them to endorse it.
“Sweeping away the ruins, we rebuilt institutions and set the course for reforms,” said Yunus, praising the reforms.
However, several parties raised questions before the vote, and the reforms will still require ratification by the new parliament.
“The challenge now is to ensure good governance, law and order, and public safety, and to establish a rights-based state, which was at the heart of the aspirations of the 2024 mass uprising,” Rezaul Karim Rony, a Dhaka-based political analyst, told Al Jazeera.
