UPDATE 2 - Bangladesh's president dissolves parliament, ending era of ex-Premier Sheikh Hasina

UPDATE IN BODY, 2 GOVERNMENT MINISTERS DETAINED, ARMY OFFICIAL SACKED; MANY EDITS THROUGHOUT; REVISES HEADLINE, DECK

By SM Najmus Sakib

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) - Bangladesh’s President Mohammed Shahabuddin on Tuesday dissolved parliament, ending the era of former Premier Sheikh Hasina after weeks of protests over controversial government job quotas forced her to flee to India.

The dissolved parliament was formed after the controversial Jan. 7 national elections, which were boycotted by top opposition parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its ally Jamaat-e-Islami.

In the face of the boycott, Hasina's Awami League won the election. Voter turnout was 41.8% out of 120 million registered voters, according to the election commission, but opposition parties claimed turnout was much lower.

Since the December 2008 national elections, the Awami League had stayed in power with four straight terms of five years each. The three national elections under Hasina were allegedly marred by vote rigging and manipulation of results.

In a statement, the presidency said the decision to dissolve parliament was made after discussions with the armed forces chiefs, political party leaders, representatives of civil society, and student-led protest movement leaders.

The students had given a 24-hour deadline to dissolve parliament and announce an interim government.

The statement said Khaleda Zia, the main opposition leader and head of the BNP, was also released. The two-time Bangladesh premier, 78, had been sentenced in 2018 to 17 years in prison for corruption.

Bangladesh Supreme Court Bar President Mahbub Uddin Khokon on Tuesday urged India to arrest Hasina and extradite her back to Bangladesh.

New Delhi said she had requested “approval to come for the moment to India.”

Meanwhile, authorities on Tuesday decided to reopen the Dhaka University campus in the capital as well as student dormitories and resume academic activities.​​​​​​​

Hasina’s Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud and Zunaid Ahmed Palak, junior minister for telecommunications, on Tuesday were detained at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport while attempting to flee to India, The Business Standard daily reported, quoting airport officials.

Separately, a top military official, Maj. Gen. Ziaul Ahsan, head of the National Telecommunication Monitoring Center, has been sacked, while five high military profile posts were reshuffled, said Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing.