Bangladesh president dissolves parliament one day after prime minister resignation News
Rayhan9d, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Bangladesh president dissolves parliament one day after prime minister resignation

President of Bangladesh Mohammed Shahabuddin dissolved the country’s parliament following the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and weeks of deadly civil unrest, local news reported on Tuesday based on a press release from the president’s office.

According to local media, President Shahabuddin took the decision to dissolve the parliament following a meeting with armed forces chiefs, political leaders, civil society representatives and the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement. Shahabuddin’s press release also announced the release of all the people who were arrested between July 1 and August during the protests, in addition to the release of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Khaleda Zia, a former prime minister sentenced to 17 years in prison in 2018  for corruption and considered Prime Minister Hasina’s rival.

The decision to dissolve Bangladesh’s parliament comes one day after Hasina’s resignation amid weeks of nationwide protests against government job quotas. This hiring system reserves 30 percent of government positions for Bangladesh Liberation War veterans and their descendants. Despite a 2018 decision to suspend the civil service quota, Bangladesh’s High Court reinstated it in a judgement rendered on July 14. This decision sparked nationwide protests among students all across the country who considered the reintroduction of the job quota discriminatory and called for reform.

However, the events quickly escalated into a mass civil unrest, which resulted in violent clashes between protestors, government supporters and authorities. The country’s home minister reported that the number of deaths reached 147 in addition to significant damage to government buildings, power substations and metro rail stations. In an attempt to restore order and security, the Bangladeshi government imposed a nationwide curfew and suspended internet services for 11 days.

Responding to the violent turmoil that had swept the country, the Bangladesh Supreme Court overturned the restoration of the quota system for civil service positions. In its verdict, the Supreme Court reduced the quota of government positions to seven percent, five percent of which was reserved for the liberation war veterans and their descendants.

Nevertheless, a group of activist students named Students Against Discrimination called for the protests to continue against the government’s policy and handling of the events despite the adjustments, decrying the deaths of hundreds of demonstrators. The leader of the activist group also demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Following this, violent clashes between angry students and pro-government supporters took place in various cities across Bangladesh, resulting in 93 deaths.

Eventually, Hasina resigned on Monday and fled to India after angry protesters stormed her residence in Dhaka. On the same day, Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman announced the formation of an interim government whose mission would be to organize elections. According to Bangladesh’s constitution, if the country’s parliament is dissolved for any reason other than the expiration of its term, a general election of the members should take place within 90 days.

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