Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - President Mohammed Shahabuddin today dissolved the12th parliament formed through this year’s January 7 general election. BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia was also set free from house arrest.
"The parliament was dissolved following discussions of the president with the chiefs of three armed forces, leaders of different political parties, representatives of civil society and leaders of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement,” reads a press release of Bangabhaban.
A day After Sheikh Hasina's ouster, her arch-rival Khaleda Zia was released from her Gulshan house.
Moreover, the process to release those arrested between July 1 to August has also been started, and many have already been released, the press statement added.
The development came as Sheikh Hasina stepped down yesterday and fled the country in the face of a mass uprising across the country which eventually had turned deadly.
In the set back of the political development, the Army Chief of Staff General Waker-Uz-Zaman yesterday addressed the nation and declared an interim government will be formed soon.
Hours before addressing the nation, he sat with the leaders of different political parties including BNP, Jamaat and JP; and students’ coordinators who spearheaded the movement against the Awami League government, and representatives of civil society. However, a single leader of just ousted Awami League was not present at the meeting with the army chief.
The coordinators under the banner of Anti-Discrimination Student Movement nominated Dr Md Yunus as the chief advisor and he has also accepted the role, media reports added.
A full fledged interim government is scheduled to be announced today following the development in the political arena of Bangladesh.
Earlier, Khaleda was sent to the Old Dhaka Central Jail as a lower court sentenced her to five years' imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case on 8 February 2018. Later, she was found guilty and convicted in another corruption case in the same year.
Khaleda, a 78-year-old former prime minister, has long been suffering from various ailments, including liver cirrhosis, arthritis, diabetes, kidney, lung, heart, eye problems and post-Covid complications.
Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the government temporarily freed Khaleda Zia from jail through an executive order by suspending her sentence on 25 March 2020 with conditions that she would stay at her Gulshan house and would not leave the country. Since then, her release term has been extended in every six months following the family's plea.
BBN/SSR/AD