DHAKA, 20 February 2007 — Bangladesh’s “banker to the poor” Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus will dissociate himself from Grameen Bank after he enters politics later this month, a report said yesterday.
Yunus was “ready to relinquish his long relationship with micro-lender Grameen Bank in the greater interest of launching a trend of new politics in the country,” the state-owned BSS news agency said in a report.
Yunus and Grameen Bank, which he founded to offer small loans to the very poor, were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last October.
Yunus said at the weekend his party would be called “Nagorik Shakti” (Citizen Power) as part of an attempt to break the two main political parties’ 16-year stranglehold on power.
“I am now determined with my decision to join politics by floating a new political party which aims to present a fresh democratic culture to the nation,” BSS quoted Yunus as saying. “The party may be officially floated within this month after completing all formalities,” he said, adding it would contest all parliamentary seats in the next polls, although a date for the election has yet to be set.
Polls originally scheduled for January were canceled and a state of emergency imposed following months of political violence between the outgoing Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the main opposition Awami League.
A military-backed 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. At least 28 high-profile politicians — including 10 former ministers with links to both the BNP and Awami League — have been detained in raids by the army, police and security forces.
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.
The plan to launch a political party by Yunus has taken most politicians by surprise but is being welcomed by ordinary citizens desperate for change.
“Now I think Bangladesh will have a chance to choose between good and bad and eventually have a good government,” said Shahedul Islam, a government official. “That government, we hope, would not only keep itself away from corruption but also make fighting corruption and black money a top priority.” Yunus sparked an outpouring of joy and national pride among Bangladeshis from all walks of life last year when he was awarded the Peace Prize for a micro-finance scheme that earned him the nickname “banker to the poor.” But his political venture has triggered mixed reactions from major political parties that have dominated the South Asian country for decades.
“Yunus is a childhood friend of mine,” said former Foreign Minister M. Morshed Khan, a senior leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party headed by immediate past Prime Minister Khaleda Zia..
“There was no debate (over him) winning the Nobel, but politics is different — very challenging and often controversial. “I don’t really want my friend to become a subject of debate.”
