DHAKA, Oct 18: Bangladeshi Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus’s wish to form a political party evoked mixed reactions among political and civil society circles.
Before his departure for Seoul on Tuesday night, Yunus told the press that he would continue his campaign for promoting clean and competent candidates in national polls and said: “If necessary, I’ll form a political party.”
He said there has been a suggestion that the campaign for clean candidates will not be successful if its protagonists are not part of the political process. “Is it too hard to form a party?” he asked the people present.
The country is trapped in a political maze and people are looking for a way out, observed Yunus. “We need to break out of this maze. I am not saying that I will be successful. But the effort should be made,” he added.
While some politicians refused to comment, others reminded him of the difficulties involved in political activism. The civil society leaders were also divided on the issue, with some of them hailing the idea and others advising him to remain above politics.
However, Awami League’s general secretary Abdul Jalil declined to say anything about his plan to float a political party, ‘if necessary’. “No comment,” was all Jalil said, when requested to give his reaction on the issue.
Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, a standing committee member of the ruling BNP just said: “Everyone has the right to form a political party.”
Ershad, chairman of his faction of the Jatiya Party, opposed the idea for the sake protecting Yunus’ present image. “A man of his stature should not join politics which has become very dirty. He will become a questionable person if he does so,” said Ershad. “But he can influence the political process without dabbling in politics.”
Workers Party president Rashed Khan Menon said that if Yunus wants to be a politician, he must be involved with the movements and ‘come down to the street, and we shall welcome him’.
