Leaders | People power

Bangladesh has ousted an autocrat. Now for the hard part

A caretaker leader, Muhammad Yunus, must try to rebuild democracy

Bangladeshi protestors stood on the roof of Sheikh Hasina's former palace
image: Getty Images

As exits GO, it was dramatic. On August 5th Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister of Bangladesh, fled the country she has ruled with an increasingly harsh grip since 2009. She was driven out by a vast display of people power on the streets of Dhaka, the capital, and will be replaced by a caretaker government, backed by the army and led by Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel peace laureate. Like him, many Bangladeshis are calling it a “second liberation”, half a century after independence.

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This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Bangladesh begins again”

From the August 10th 2024 edition

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