Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister of Bangladesh, has resigned and fled the country after weeks of deadly protests.
In an address to the nation, the head of the army, General Waker-Uz-Zaman, says an interim government will be formed and urges people to trust the military to restore calm.
Thousands of protesters have stormed Hasina’s residence in Dhaka, while many have taken to the streets of the capital to celebrate.
Student-led protests that began last month over governmental job quotas expanded into a nationwide antigovernment movement.
The demonstrators have been demanding justice for some 300 people killed in recent weeks.
Sheikh Hasina became Bangladesh’s prime minister for the first time after her Awami League party won the 1996 elections.
On Monday, following weeks of protests, the 76-year-old resigned and fled the country. Here’s a look back at her life:
Details of how the interim government will be formed are still sketchy, but Zaman said he was holding talks with major political parties, including the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
It is not clear if the military itself will take power as has been done in several military coups in the past. Student activists have said they would reject military rule.
“cannot afford that. … We are really hoping that the army is able to keep the peace as well as introduce some kind of interim system that can deliver us back to democracy,” Professor Naomi Hossain of the United Kingdom’s School of African and Oriental Studies told Al Jazeera.
General Waker-uz-Zaman, the chief of army staff, also said the deaths in the course of the weeks-long protests would be investigated as calls for justice grew.
“I promise you all, we will bring justice to all the murders and injustice. We request you to have faith in the army of the country. I take full responsibility, and I assure you to not get disheartened,” the general said.
Our colleagues at the Al Jazeera Explainer team has put together an in-depth piece that looks at the root issues that led to the nationwide protests, as well as why Hasina was an unpopular leader.
The 27-member bloc’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says that the European Union “calls for calm and restraint” after Hasina’s resignation.
“It is vital that an orderly and peaceful transition towards a democratically elected government is ensured, in full respect of human rights and democratic principles,” he said.