Bangladesh: Son of ousted PM warns of 'mob rule'

The son of Sheikh Hasina, the ousted prime minister of Bangladesh, warned against 'mob rule' ; and a possible "chaos" if elections were not organized quickly, in an interview with AFP broadcast on Sunday.

“Right now in Bangladesh, it's mob rule,” Sajeeb Wazed Joy, 53, a former adviser to his mother, said from Washington, where he lives, calling the current interim government “powerless.”

Referring to the replacement of former aides to the prime minister, such as the national police chief, the central bank governor and the chief justice, he said: “If the mob says tomorrow, 'No, we want this person out of the interim government,' they will have to go.”

The new prime minister, Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, has said he wants elections “within months,” but Wazed has warned of the risks of delaying them.

Muhammad Yunus (c), new head of the interim government, on August 9, 2024 in Dhaka, Bangladesh © AFP – Indranil MUKHERJEE

“It is in their interest to hold elections (…) to return to a legitimate government that enjoys the legitimacy of the people and real authority,” he said. “Otherwise, the country will descend into chaos.”

Sheikh Hasina won the January election, but after a vote that was denounced as neither free nor fair and boycotted by her main opponents following a crackdown in which thousands of opposition party members were arrested.

– “She wants to go home” –

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During the latest protests, the offices of Ms Hasina's Awami League were torched and some of its members have been in hiding since the ousted prime minister fled. But his son says the party is still standing.

Protesters storm Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's palace on August 5, 2024 in Dhaka, Bangladesh © AFP – K M ASAD

“We have tens of millions of supporters, they are not going anywhere,” Wazed warned. “You can't establish democracy in Bangladesh without the Awami League. It will never be accepted by at least half the population” of the South Asian country, which has a population of 170 million.

The former ruling party and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which is rebuilding after years of repression and has been organizing a peaceful rally since Monday in Dhaka, must “work together”, says Mr. Wazed.

Student demonstration to demand the resignation of Supreme Court Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan, on August 10, 2024 in Dhaka, Bangladesh © AFP – Luis TATO

Mr. Wazed thanked the Indian government of Narendra Modi “for saving the life” of his mother and ensuring her safety. Sheikh Hasina is in an undisclosed location and has not spoken publicly since arriving Monday at a military base near New Delhi.

Her son said there were “no plans yet” for her to move to a third country. “My mother never wanted to leave her country, her dream is to retire there,” he said, adding that he spoke to her every day. “This was supposed to be her last term. She is 76 years old. And so, she simply wants to go home. We are waiting to see if she can do it.”

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