Guterres wants Bangladesh military, political authorities to work for peaceful democratic transition

United Nations, Aug 6 (IANS) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wants the Bangladesh military and political authorities to work together for a peaceful democratic transition following the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, his spokesperson said.

"We want to make sure that all of the authorities, the political authorities, the military authorities, and anyone else who has a say in the current transition, work together so that there will be a peaceful and democratic transition," Guterres’s Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq said on Monday.

He said that Guterres stands "in full solidarity with the people of Bangladesh at this time, and we call for full respect of their democratic and human rights".

The UN, he said, was in touch with governments in the region, and the UN country team with authorities in Bangladesh.

Sheikh Hasina’s resignation was announced by Bangladesh Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman who, in a national broadcast, said that he was in charge.

"We will form an interim government," he said.

Haq said that Guterres continues to closely follow developments in the country, including the resignation of Hasina and the Army Chief’s plans for an interim government.

Hasina’s resignation came after weeks of civil unrest during which, according to some reports, about 300 people, including security personnel, have been killed, thousands injured and jailed.

"The Secretary-General deplores the further loss of life during protests in Bangladesh over the weekend", "urges calm and restraint by all sides" and "continues to underscore the need for a full, independent, impartial and transparent investigation into all acts of violence", Haq said.

The protest started with students demanding the abolition of government job reservation for the family freedom fighters who won Bangladesh its independence from Pakistan.

The protests continued even after the Supreme Court cut the job reservations from 30 per cent to 5 per cent and in a tidal wave of violence over the weekend about 100 people were killed, including several police personnel.

Besides his priorities of democracy and human rights, Guterres is concerned about the large UN refugee programme covering nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar.

(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis)

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