Bangladesh leader threatens to resign amid political turmoil

Dhaka: Bangladesh s interim leader, who took over after a mass uprising last year, has threatened to resign if parties do not give him their backing,...

Dhaka: Bangladesh's interim leader, who took over after a mass uprising last year, has threatened to resign if parties do not give him their backing, a political ally and sources in his office said on Thursday.

The South Asian nation of some 170 million people has been in political turmoil since a student-led revolt forced then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina to flee in August 2024. But this week has seen an escalation in political crisis with rival parties protesting on the streets of the capital Dhaka with a string of competing demands.

Muhammad Yunus, the 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner who leads the caretaker government as its chief advisor until elections, told his cabinet he wanted to quit if political parties did not give him their full support, a source inside his office said.

"He wanted to tender his resignation, but his cabinet members persuaded him not to", the source told AFP.

'Reconsidering'