The Nobel Peace laureate tapped to lead an interim government in Bangladesh called for calm and boarded a flight on Wednesday to return home, a day before his new government is expected to be sworn in to replace ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Muhammad Yunus, 84, was picked by President Mohammed Shahabuddin to lead the new interim government, a key demand of student demonstrators whose uprising drove Hasina to flee to India on Monday.

"Let us make the best use of our new victory," he said in a statement before departing Paris, where he had been receiving medical treatment while out on bail from criminal cases brought under Hasina. "I fervently appeal to everybody to stay calm. Please refrain from all kinds of violence."