Asif: Interim govt will stay as long as necessary

Youth and Sports Adviser Asif Mahmud said that the tenure of the interim government will remain as long as necessary. 

“We have no desire to retain power,” he said on Sunday, his first day at the Secretariat, while speaking with journalists.

Regarding heads of various institutions being forced to resign, he said: "Those who have obstructed the movement or committed crimes might be doing this out of anger and self-interest.” 

However, he believes it should be done through a process, otherwise, there will be chaos.

Following the downfall of the Sheikh Hasina government on August 5 in the face of protest, an interim government was formed on Thursday night under the leadership of Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus. That night, 14 members of the 17-member interim government took the oath at Bangabhaban. 

Dr Muhammad Yunus is the chief adviser of this government.

Md Nahid Islam and Asif Mahmud, coordinators of the anti-discrimination student movement, joined the new government as advisers, a first in the country's history.

Asif Mahmud has been assigned the role of Youth and Sports adviser, while Nahid Islam has been assigned the role of adviser to the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications, and Information Technology.