When Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled to India in the face of a mass uprising on August 5, 2024, the country was not simply between governments, it was in a freefall. An interim government was formed under the leadership of Nobel Laureate Dr Mohammad Yunus to stabilise the political and economic situation and to steer Bangladesh towards free and fair elections. When Dr. Yunus and his team of advisers stepped into, it was not a functioning state, it was institutional wreckage requiring reconstruction. What followed was a period of institution-rebuilding.
The reform process undertaken by the interim government was arguably the most consequential undertaking. But it has also managed to shore up a cross-party political consensus (excluding the Awami League), helping to reach agreement on the July Charter. Its final task was to take a smooth exit from Bangladesh’s political…
