Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus sworn in as interim leader
Dr Mohammad Yunus has taken the oath as Bangladesh's interim leader, after an uprising which ended the 15-year reign of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina. The Nobel laureate hopes to restore calm, and rebuild the country after weeks of deadly protests.
Transcript
00:00The atmosphere is absolutely electric outside the president's house.
00:07Thousands and thousands of people have engulfed the streets of Dhaka.
00:11And there's relief in the air and there's jubilation.
00:14And that's because just a few moments ago, Dr. Muhammad Yunus took his oath as the chief
00:20of advisor for the new interim government.
00:23Now this comes after weeks of deadly protests.
00:27That started with demonstrations against a government job quota system and escalated
00:32into a nationwide rejection of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's increasingly autocratic
00:38regime.
00:39Now, these people have fought for, students have fought for Mr. Yunus to be in this position.
00:46They believe he's the man for the job.
00:48He's got worldwide acclaim.
00:50He's been called the banker for the poor and has lifted millions out of poverty.
00:54But he does have a challenging task ahead of him.
00:57There is economic stability in this country, a lot of unrest from the last five weeks,
01:04and he's got the task in the future of putting together transparent elections.
01:09But today, all people want to do is celebrate the end of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's
01:1515-year reign.