Muhammad Yunus will remain as the head of Bangladesh's interim government, an adviser in his cabinet said on Saturday, two days after a key ally said he mulled resignation.
"He (Yunus) didn't say he will leave. He said that while we face many obstacles in carrying out the work and responsibilities assigned to us, we are overcoming them," Planning Adviser Wahiduddin Mahmud told reporters after an unscheduled meeting of the advisory council.
Mahmud added: "He (Yunus) is definitely staying."
He added that none of the advisers were going anywhere as "the responsibility entrusted to us is a significant one; we cannot abandon this duty".
The chief adviser's decision to stay in office came two days after he told student-led National Citizen Party (NCP) leaders that he was mulling resignation as he felt "the situation is such that he cannot work", citing difficulties in working amid the failure of political parties to find common ground for change.
Yunus reportedly expressed an identical desire to quit in a cabinet meeting earlier on Thursday, where his colleagues persuaded him not to relinquish.
As many as 19 advisers, effectively ministers, joined the abruptly called closed-door meeting, which Yunus decided to convene following a scheduled meeting of the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) at the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area in Dhaka.
Midway through the meeting, adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan told reporters that discussions were focused on the elections, Yunus's reform agenda, and the belated July Proclamation a manifesto to mark last year's student-led uprising that led to the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League.
NCP convenor Nahid Islam emerged from the meeting with Yunus.
Islam had earlier said that he urged Yunus "to stay strong for the sake of the country's security, and future and to meet the expectations of the mass uprising, (and) I hope everyone will cooperate with him".
Analysts saw the chief adviser's resignation threat as a test of public backing and political support.
Yunus is expected to meet leaders of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami later in the day, following his overnight call for talks amid the evolving political situation of recent days. -- PTI
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