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On the surface, it was a routine closed-door meeting between Bangladesh’s interim leader and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus and the chiefs of the country’s three armed forces, to discuss law and order. But the May 20 meeting came amid what multiple officials familiar with the internal workings of the government described to Al Jazeera as an intensifying power struggle in Dhaka. Portrayed in social and mainstream media in Bangladesh as a “cold war” between the armed forces and the interim administration, these tensions now threaten the future of Yunus’s role, nine months after he took charge following the ousting of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the ruling Awami League. Hasina fled to India in August 2024 amid a mass uprising against her 15-year-long rule, during which she was accused of orchestrating extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances. The meeting also came amid rumours that Yunus was considering stepping down. However, following another cabinet meeting on Saturday, acting head of the planning ministry, Wahiduddin Mahmud, told reporters: “The chief adviser [Yunus] is staying with us – he hasn’t said he’ll resign – and the other advisers are also staying; we are here to carry out the responsibilities given to us,” following a closed-door meeting of the interim government’s advisory council amid ongoing political unrest.
Full feature : Political discord over when to hold elections and growing tensions with the armed forces have left Muhammad Yunus isolated.