Dhaka, August 5 (Ozi news desk): Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has resigned and an interim government is taking over, Army Chief General Waqar-uz-Zaman announced here on Monday, in a dramatic development amid massive protests against her government that claimed more than 100 lives in the last two days.
“I’m taking all responsibility (of the country). Please cooperate,” he said in a televised address amid reports that Hasina has left the country. There were unconfirmed reports that she was headed to a city in India.
The Army chief said he had met political leaders and told them the Army would take over responsibility for law and order. However, there were no leaders from Hasina’s Awami League party at the meeting.
Hasina, the 76-year-old daughter of Bangladesh founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, had been ruling the strategically located South Asian nation since 2009. She was elected for a record fourth consecutive term and fifth overall term in the 12th general election held in January, amid a boycott by the main opposition party Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of former premier Khaleda Zia and its allies.
