Yunus says ‘looking forward’ to helping Bangladesh ‘get out of trouble’


By AFP
August 7, 2024


Bangladesh's finance pioneer Muhammad Yunus appeared happy to be returning home - Copyright AFP/File Federico PARRA

Nobel peace prize winner Muhammad Yunus, who is due to head an interim government in Bangladesh after the ousting of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, said Wednesday he was looking forward to helping the country overcome its current turbulence.

“I’m looking forward to going back home, see what’s happening and how we can organise ourselves to get out of the trouble we are in,” he told reporters before boarding a flight at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport for Dubai where he was to connect to Dhaka.

He headed for the boarding zone pushing a small wheeled piece of luggage, waving goodbye.

The Nobel-winning microfinance pioneer will head the interim government after longtime and autocratic prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country.

The appointment came quickly after student leaders called on the 84-year-old Yunus — credited with lifting millions out of poverty in the South Asian country — to lead.

Hasina, 76, who had been in power since 2009, resigned on Monday as hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets of Dhaka demanding she stand down.