B’deshi Nobel winner abandons politics plan

BANGLADESH: Bangladesh Nobel Peace Prize winner and micro-credit pioneer Muhammad Yunus announced he had abandoned a dream to form a new party to breathe new life into the country’s embattled democracy.

“I decided to enter into politics because of your support,” Yunus said in an open letter. “Now ... I am informing you that I am not going to form any political party,” he said.

“I had a plan ... but I came to understand that it is not possible and so accepting this reality I decided not to go forward,” he added.

Yunus and his Grameen Bank, which specialises in lifting people out of extreme poverty by giving small loans to the very poor, were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last October.

His decision to enter politics followed a political crisis in January that led to the cancellation of elections and a state of emergency under a military-backed interim government.

But Yunus said he had no alternative but to drop his plans after he failed to find backers.

“People gave me inspiration to enter politics (but) when I contacted them I did not get much response and they were not interested in joining the party. Others would not leave their existing political party,” he said in a statement.

“We have an age-old tradition of confrontation in politics. My politics will be the politics of unity and peace to establish honesty in politics and to change the fate of the nation,” he said in February.

“These politics will be non-communal, secular, democratic and free of corruption.”

Ataur Rahman, a professor of political science at Dhaka university, said Yunus’ decision was not unexpected.

“He is a social leader, rather than a political leader, and Bangladesh has not yet reached the stage where there is the right atmosphere for creative people like Yunus to be successful,” he said.

Dhaka, Friday, AFP