Army will not interfere in politics: Waker-uz-Zaman

Army Chief General Waker-uz-Zaman has said that Bangladesh Army will not interfere in politics.

In an interview with news agency Reuters published on Tuesday (September 24), he said, “Within the next one and a half years, there should be a transition to democracy in the country.”

Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left the country on August 5 in the face of protests by students. Later, an interim government led by Nobel-winning economist Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus was formed.

This government has taken initiatives to reform the major sectors of the country. In such a situation, Chief of Army Staff General Waker-uz-Zaman has expressed strong support to this Yunus-led government.

He told Reuters, “We will support the government, no matter what happens.”

He said the military would support the country's interim government to help complete key reforms. So that elections can be held in the country within the next 18 months.

According to Reuters, General Waker-uz-Zaman and the army did not intervene in the student-people uprising against Hasina at the beginning of last August. As a result, Sheikh Hasina was forced to resign after 15 years in power and go to India.