DHAKA, 12 February 2007 — Bangladesh’s “banker to the poor,” Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, yesterday formally announced his willingness to form a new political party to take part in forthcoming elections.
“I seek your support to form a political party. Please write letters or call me to give your opinion. I seek your support and advice. I am waiting for your response,” Yunus told reporters, in comments addressed to the Bangladeshi people.
“If they say: Go ahead, I will join politics... form a party. I am ready to take this risk. My politics will be to build a new country... set a new current in politics,” the Nobel laureate told reporters.
Yunus and his Grameen Bank won the Nobel Peace Prize last year for his pioneering work giving tiny loans to the very poor.
Yunus said his party would take part in the next elections, although a date for the vote has yet to be set. Polls originally scheduled for January were canceled and a state of emergency imposed following months of political violence.
An interim government running the country has since embarked on a major anti-corruption campaign in a bid to clean up the country’s notoriously corrupt political landscape ahead of new elections.
Yunus said he would not ally himself with any of the tainted and corrupt politicians, saying “my aim is to build a new Bangladesh.” Bangladesh’s powerful army has been seen as instrumental in the anti-corruption campaign, led by interim government chief Fakhruddin Ahmed — a former central bank governor.
Saudia Plane Escapes Accident
Bangladesh’s main international airport was closed yesterday after a Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747 failed to take off due to deflated tires, officials at the Zia International Airport in Dhaka said.
The Saudi Arabian Airlines flight with nearly 400 passengers on board was forced to abort its 0245 GMT take-off for Riyadh and return to the terminal buildings.
“Thank God no casualty was reported,” a security official said without giving further details. Other airport officials said efforts were being made to clear the airport’s single runway.
Official sources and witnesses said the punctures in the front tires of the aircraft were detected “just before the take-off.”
Airport sources told newsmen in the evening that five international flights were scheduled to land at the airport till 7 p.m. But, four of them were diverted to Chittagong Shah Amanat International Airport and one to Kolkata Airport. The sources said the Saudi aircraft averted a potential disaster as the pilot instantly stopped the plane before the take-off after detecting the punctures.
Anti-Graft Official Quits
The last of three top officials at Bangladesh’s anti-graft commission resigned yesterday, clearing the way for its reconstitution as part of a campaign by the army-backed interim government to clean up the administration.
Muniruddin Ahmed, a commissioner at the Anti-Corruption Commission charged with fighting graft in governance, submitted his resignation to President Iajuddin Ahmed through a messenger, officials said.
“The Anti-Corruption Commission will be reorganized soon to curb corruption in the country,” said an official at the ministry of law, judiciary and parliamentary affairs. Chief Commissioner Sultan Hossain and Commissioner Muniruzzaman Miah quit four days ago following criticism that the commission had failed to fight widespread corruption in governance.
Nearly 100 political leaders including nine ministers have been detained by the administration over the past one week in what it says is a crackdown on corrupt politicians.
The detained politicians belong to both the Bangladesh Nationalist Party of immediate Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and main rival, the Awami League, led by Hasina Wajed, another former prime minister.
