Yunus reveals his political slant

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has broken out of cocoon to claim that no general election in Bangladesh, unless overseen by a non-party caretaker government, can be fair and credible, in an apparent bid to gain political currency.

The veteran of one failed foray into politics – a bleak parable of political ambition – made the overtures backing the opposition BNP amid a debilitating standoff with the ruling Awami League over the mode of the crucial balloting, which, at best, is five months away.

At a press conference at the Yunus Centre, held with Bangladesh Krishak-Sramik Janata League President Kader Siddiqui, another staunch critic of the government, he urged the political parties to try to thrash out a common ground to go about the transition.

The chief opposition party in Parliament and its allies have taken to the streets demanding restoration of the caretaker government provision since it was annulled in June 2011 through the 15th Constitutional Amendment.

Yunus and BRAC Chairman Fazle Hasan Abed had voiced the need for the interim government at a meeting with former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Dhaka last year.

“Politics has brought the country under dark clouds of conflict. The people of the nation will not forgive the person who is responsible for this situation,” Yunus said on Thursday, without saying who that would be.

He said the people did not want unrest. A free and fair election, he declared, was “not possible without the caretaker government” and “all political parties” needed to contest the looming elections.

The parliamentary elections are set to be held under the Awami League-led government, which the BNP says is a move taken by the ruling party to retain power. They want a temporary government of technocrats without “political affiliations”.

However, at a press conference on Aug 18, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina skirted the question on whether she would head the interim government.

The Awami League leaders and government ministers are quietly confident that the BNP would come to the vote. Though he did not explain, ruling party General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam had also hinted at an interim government which would not be headed by party chief Hasina.

Political observers say the fear of all political parties joining the elections will ease were the two major parties to reach an understanding over who would lead such a government.

The BNP, meanwhile, is speaking of the tasks it will do if it came to power in the next term, which analysts very much see as electoral campaign.

Many believe if the big two could strike a consensus on not putting the unelected in power, it would kill of political ambitions of those so-called civil society members who are mainly blessed by the influential quarters of the media.

Yunus had previously criticised both parties, but this time the deposed Grameen Bank Managing Director has publicly backed the demand of one.

He never appeared before the media to talk about national politics, barring when he had spoken about floating a party of his own during the state of emergency in 2007.

Known for his PR skills, the social entrepreneur was so much removed from politics, at least on the surface, that he did not even comment openly on the budget for the 2013-14 fiscal year, that despite him being the member of the first Planning Commission of independent Bangladesh and teaching economics at a university.

Amid calls by foreign powers including the United States, the United Nations and the European Union, Prime Minister Hasina had asked her prime political adversary for dialogues, only for Khaleda to snub it.

Finally, at last week’s press call, Hasina snuffed out chances of talks saying her government would not budge an inch from electoral path mandated by the Constitution.

Yunus was asked if he would initiate measures at this point to evolve a consensus among the parties on the issue. “I have no means to bring them to an understanding,” was his answer.

Responding to another query, he said whoever came to power next term, they must vow to not indulge in “looting, corruption and abduction or murder of anyone” after taking office.

“Voters will elect those who won’t rebuke them all the time,” he said without saying who he meant.

Yunus, an advisor to the Justice Habibur Rahman-led caretaker government in 1996, had moved to form ‘Nagarik Shakti’ during the regime of the military-backed caretaker government. But he backed off after his idea failed to gain traction.

Of late, he has remained tight-lipped amid a call to join politics.

About the Election Commission’s move to amend the law relinquishing the power to disqualify candidates for breach of code, the Nobellist said, “All political parties have agreed to this law; bringing changes hastily is pointless.”

But, he quickly added, that can be done after the next general election following discussions with all parties.

The former Grameen Bank chief executive strayed far beyond the borders of the political discourse to vent his anger yet again at a government commission that reportedly recommended drastically decentralising its operations and management.

He labelled the people involved with the process as “miscreants” and said “no-one has the power to do (harm) to Grameen Bank”.

The government was planning to tear the bank into shreds, alleged Yunus, who was relieved of his duties by the Bangladesh Bank in March 2011. He had moved the High Court against the decision but lost the legal battle.

Khaleda last June gave her firm backing to the embattled Yunus on his stance concerning the micro-credit institution.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith, on numerous occasions, described as ‘completely false’ Yunus’s claim that the government was trying to grab the Nobel-winning Bank that it also co-owned.

“We’ve no intention to change the bank’s structure or ownership,’ he had said.

At the media call, Kader Siddiqui, once a leader of the Awami League, criticised the Prime Minister for what he claimed to be “her stance against reaching a consensus”.

“How can a Prime Minister say, ‘I won’t move by a hair’s breadth’?” According to Siddiqui, when a political leader says such thing, they become more than a ‘dictator’.

He also announced that free and fair polls were impossible under Hasina’s leadership. “There is no other way but the caretakers to holding the elections.”

He said the politics the Awami League and the BNP did were far from fair. “That’s why a neutral referee is needed,” he surmised.

Kader Siddiqui promised to be on the side of Grameen Bank. “The government has made the vicious move to split Grameen Bank into 19 pieces when the government institutions in the country are going private.”

No-one in the world, let alone Bangladesh’s people, would support the government’s “bad intention”, he thundered.