Muhammad Yunus faces ‘Herculean task' to reform and unite Bangladesh, experts say

Nation of 170 million is about 90 per cent Muslim, with a considerable Hindu community and is bitterly fragmented over political affiliations

Muhammad Yunus is sworn into office to lead Bangladesh's interim government in Dhaka on August 8. AFP

The enormous task of uniting Bangladesh awaits Muhammad Yunus, experts say, as the Nobel laureate takes the helm of a bitterly divided country in the aftermath of a deadly protest movement that ousted those in power.

The 84-year-old economist and social reformer took the oath to become the head of the military-backed interim government on Thursday, following the forced exit of longtime prime minister Sheikh Hasina amid widespread anger.

The interim government, expected to pave the way for a new democratic administration, is run by a dozen members – mostly apolitical personalities – including prominent academicians, former bureaucrats, lawyers, retired military personnel and student leaders who led the weeks-long street agitation against the previous regime.

“This is a new dawn for Bangladesh. We have been living under an autocratic rule,” social activist Omar Sunny Somrat, 32, from Pabna district, told The National.

“The fact that I can even talk to you freely about my country is an indication of the new dawn,” he said.

Tens of thousands of students took to the streets last month to protest against a discriminatory government job policy in demonstrations that quickly morphed into a wider movement to oust Ms Hasina, who was accused by her critics of turning the country into an autocracy.

Dr Yunus was nominated to the position by the protesting students and endorsed by national army chief Waker-uz-Zaman after Ms Hasina’s dramatic escape from the country following an iron-fist rule of nearly 16 years.

“I will uphold, support and protect the constitution,” Dr Yunus said as he took the oath in a ceremony administered by President Mohammed Shahabuddin.

Dr Yunus is one of the country's most prominent figures due to his contribution to lifting millions of Bangladeshis out of poverty through his microfinancing initiative that won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006.

New dawn

Dr Yunus was a staunch opponent of Ms Hasina and called her departure from Bangladesh a “Second Liberation Day”, referring to Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan in 1971.

His appointment has installed a sense of renewed optimism among some in the country.

“Corruption was deep-rooted, which had rotted every sphere,” Mr Somrat said. “We realised this is not how we can go on.

“We have expectations from Dr Yunus, and his government, that he will free the country from corruption and take us to prosperity."

'Herculean task'

The nation of 170 million is about 90 per cent Muslim, with a considerable Hindu community, as well as ethnic minorities, and is bitterly fragmented over political affiliations.

Dr Yunus, who has taken charge of nearly 20 ministries including defence, faces major challenges on domestic security and the economy.

“We have to understand that he's 84 years old and he is embarking on a Herculean task of reforming every single institution that Bangladesh has right now,” Dr Ishrat Hossain, a Bangladeshi researcher on politics and international relations at the University of Oxford, told The National.

“How far he will be able to carry those tasks, please everybody – all the involved parties, that we have to see,” she said.

Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Centre in Washington, said while Dr Yunus enjoys immense support from young people, it will be challenging for him to work with different stakeholders in a deeply politically divided country.

“He's an icon internationally, but he is a lightning rod in Bangladesh, he does have his detractors,” Mr Kugelman said.

“Student leaders, the army, most of the political parties will be OK with him. Perhaps some of the religious figures may not be happy with him.

“It may be useful for someone who comes from outside the political sphere to play that role of uniter. The question is, is he the one to play a long-term role in Bangladesh's politics?

“Dissidents have a mixed record when it comes to their ability to be political figures,” Mr Kugelman said.

Ms Hasina had jailed many dissenters, and Dr Yunus was hit with more than 100 charges and was convicted in a case of labour laws. However, he was acquitted by a court on Wednesday after he was appointed to lead the government.

Dramatic political changes

Bangladesh’s political landscape has changed dramatically this week.

The nation has historically been ruled by two dynastic parties – Ms Hasina’s Awami League and her opponent Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) – since its formation five decades ago.

The matriarchs have fought against military coups and ruled the nation alternately. They are both called the figures of democracy by supporters and autocrats by critics.

However, the student protests turned into a nationwide movement against Ms Hasina following the deaths of more than 450 people, and gave birth to a new political force.

Anger against Ms Hasina, whose future is uncertain, and Ms Zia, who is 78 and ailing, is palpable among the younger generation.

“Bangladesh's political landscape has changed dramatically and suddenly,” Mr Kugelman said.

“That is because this is a country that for so long had been dominated by two parties and two leaders, and that had polarised politics bitterly and at times violently.

“But the big question moving forward is how effective will these new players be in transforming Bangladesh's politics into something more free, stable and democratic?” he said

Dr Hossain said Dr Yunus’s interim government should primarily focus on bringing stability and cleansing the state system, which has become politicised, before holding elections.

“[The] BNP wants an election to be held within three to six months but that will be a mistake because after 15 years of Awami League rule, we do not want the main opposition to come back to power and carry on the same kind of politics, which is based on vengeance and reprisal and politicisation of the state institutions,” she said.

“What we Bangladeshis want to happen is that the [interim] government stays in power for a significant duration, maybe two to three years, rebuilds institutions that were completely politicised, takes key reforms in the economic sector, in the financial sector, in the banking sector and brings stability to Bangladesh.”