DHAKA, 19 October 2006 — Bangladesh’s first Nobel laureate said yesterday he might form his own political party as he attacked the electoral reforms deadlock between the impoverished nation’s two main parties.
“The country needs different politics. If we hold elections and there are no quality candidates, there will be no solution,” said Muhammad Yunus, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last Friday.
“I still put the stress on the movement for quality candidates. If necessary, I will form a political party,” he told reporters.
Yunus was speaking before leaving for South Korea, where he is to be honored as the winner of the eighth Seoul Peace Prize awarded for his role in developing microcredit.
Yunus and his Grameen Bank, which offers tiny loans to poor borrowers to help them become self-employed, won the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize jointly.
The bank, which targets women because it believes they are better than men at running family finances, has given small loans to more than 6.6 million people since its inception in 1976. The former economics professor said people were looking for a way out of the present political crisis and he saw a role for himself.
“I’m not saying I can do it. But someone has to try. People are looking for options about how we can get out of this crisis ... this political standoff. So if I can play any role in this regard, I will,” he added.
