WORLD : Bangladesh Leader to Quit Soon
President Hussain Mohammed Ershad bowed to an increasingly violent campaign for his ouster and agreed today to quit as soon as the opposition nominates a replacement, state radio said.
Parliament will meet Saturday to try to choose a successor, the radio said in a late-night news bulletin.
Ershad had offered Monday to step down shortly before elections scheduled for June, but the opposition, which had staged a seven-week campaign to drive him from office, rebuffed that offer and demanded he step down now.
The 60-year-old former army general took over Bangladesh, one of the world’s poorest countries, in a bloodless coup in 1982. He had declared a state of emergency Nov. 27 to quash the opposition campaign seeking his ouster.
Immediately after the announcement, hundreds of opposition workers thronged the streets of the capital, chanting slogans and setting off firecrackers.
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