Why I petitioned for Dr Yunus to be in politics

While the signature campaign got momentum fairly quickly, criticisms were plenty against that move. For better or worse, it generated a lot of passionate and intense debate. One thing that came out of that discussion quite clearly was that Dr Yunus is now considered a national treasure that all of us, regardless of our affiliation, now want to fiercely protect. Because such treasures are so rare in this country, we are arguing on how and where to use his leadership skills. This article will try to address some of the concerns raised in that criticism and at the same time offer some thoughts for the future.

Before addressing that criticism, a bit of background information on the petition. Before writing it, I had a discussion and debate with a few about the merits of it. Initially, I was not for getting Dr Yunus into the political arena for the same selfish reason of protecting him. I thought the best role for Yunus would be an Ayatollah-esque role in the country -- the much needed moral authority who would remain above the fray but could have a very influential effect on our policy making. After some intense discussion, however, I was convinced that we desperately need him in politics. In fact, I decided to aggressively pursue a petition campaign hoping to influence the ongoing dialogue between the two parties.

The long-term goal of the petition was getting Dr Yunus involved in Bangladeshi politics. However, we figured that if we asked him to join politics now, leaving the stature and the laurel of the Nobel, it would be asking too much of a sacrifice for him. We needed a way for him to show his political acumen in the shortest span of time with a limited set of goals.

Serving as the head of the caretaker government chief (assuming that the ex-judges were embarrassed to take the responsibility and the parties nominated him) served multiple purposes towards that aim. It would have solved the current impasse and it would have given, for better or worse, a glimpse towards a future Yunus administration. This would have given both him and the public an idea of how effective he would be in government.

From the hundreds of reactions I got from the petition, the people who complained to me about the petition, have mainly shown three reasons for their position against it. They are stated below, followed by my commentary.

Politics is dirty: Most people said that the politics in Bangladesh is dirty and a clean person like Yunus has no business in it. In a perverse sort of way, this means accepting the current state of politics as our destiny. Carrying this logic further on, it means politics in Bangladesh should be done by thugs and thieves and the most corrupt so that the good guys remain busy in eradicating poverty and cleaning up their mess in a "non-political" sort of way.

But, while certain apprehension about losing our precious gem in the mud is understandable, to realise any country's true potential, good governance is an absolute necessity. While politics in Bangladesh has not evolved and has become bankrupt, it is no fault of politics itself -- but of the politicians. It is imperative for any country to sustain a politics of good governance for growth.

Dr Yunus himself saw the need for it back in April with his "clean candidate" speech. So, in essence, the most trusted, sincere, non-controversial person is willing to take on the problem head on. With his can-do approach, I for one would be fully willing to lend him a helping hand in this.

It is fruitless to keep him on a pedestal and worship him if he cannot implement any of his visions. The need of the hour is an inspirational leader who can inspire people to think differently and who can clean up our politics as usual. We are very fortunate that the leader has arrived and more importantly he is willing to lead. Let's try to keep him away from partisan politics and bickering, but let's get him into the retail politics where people's voices are heard.

Keep him non-controversial: It was said that it is very important for Yunus to remain "non-controversial." The argument is that since he is one of the only few remaining people in Bangladesh today who is beyond controversy, why subject him to the vicious vitriol of politics. Often comparison was drawn to Justice Shahabuddin to show how his name was made controversial by the Awami League.

The proponents of this argument assume that the Bangladesh's average citizen is ill-informed and takes the word of the political parties as gospel. If the recent Nazim Kamran Choudhury statistics are any guide, the sum of the core base of the two parties has come down to about 40% of the voting population. The well informed voters of today are disenchanted with politics as usual and the acceptability of Dr Yunus is much larger than that of the current political parties. So controversy created by the interest groups or political parties will not hold much water unless it has substance.

Not in caretaker: The third argument was against his role in the short-term government. It was said that it would be impossible for him to change anything in three months being a caretaker head. The head of the caretaker has no power because most of the fixes in the administration have already taken place and unless the Election Commission is strengthened, the head of caretaker government cannot turn things around that much. Also, the problems in Bangladesh are so deep and the institutions are so weak that it is impossible for one person to change things around so quickly.

Of the three arguments mentioned, this one definitely has the most credibility and weight in the present scenario. There is a lot of house cleaning to do and institutions to be rebuilt. Dr Yunus needs much longer time and strength for that. Neither did I think that it was possible for him to do it in three months. But I figured that in taking up this duty, he could get his hands wet in politics, he could defuse the current political crisis, and he could also plant the seed for any future political movement that he wants to start. An efficient Yunus administration in action would be the best way advertise any future movement of a new kind of politics in Bangladesh.

Since the petition started, although Yunus has said that he will not accept the role of the chief advisor, there is reason to be very excited about his willingness to form a political party. It is commendable that he has realised that it is not possible to fix politics with a top-down approach. He needs to be in the system and work from the grass-roots to make a change. While he said the preparation for the possible new party is a long-term process, I would still encourage him to choose at least five seats in the coming election and nominate independent candidates endorsed by him to capitalise on the new excitement and tidal wave of good publicity that he is getting. I can tell that the existing parties would have every reason to be nervous about this movement. However, what we worry about is his security and safety. He will indeed be in the bad books of a lot of interest groups and the religious right. Will they let him live in peace?

If you are a Bangladeshi, regardless of which part of the world you are in, you know the recent excitement among us is palpable. While we are worried about the current political climate, the Yunus "marka" light at the end of tunnel is giving us a lot of hope. Suddenly everyone is working an extra bit harder for Bangladesh.

A few weeks ago, when Saber Hossain Chowdhury was beaten up by the police, I wrote that the good guys were taking it lying down in Bangladesh while the bad guys were having an all you can eat feast. Just one announcement from Oslo changed a lot of this. Good guys now are vindicated and have a role model. Talking about the real people is in vogue again and there are fantastic debates on the future direction of Bangladesh that are taking place. What a welcome change it is!

Let's celebrate this win but celebrate it with a resolve to do our own bit in making a difference, just like Dr Yunus did. I would like to finish with a note from an inspired friend who talked about her dreams that just a few weeks ago were impossible to think about.

Imagine these headlines from The Daily Star, 15 years from now in 2021.

• Bangladesh has been named the best performer for improvement in the human development index.
• Independent Anti-Corruption Commission has charged finance minister with graft and the minister has resigned with disgrace.
• After successfully tackling corruption and poverty, the Yunus led Grameen Jote administration has declared improving healthcare as their biggest priority for the next two years.
• When asked what they would like to do in the future, a surprising number of students this year have said they would like to join politics after graduation.
• For the fifth year in a row, Bangladesh's standing in the most corrupted country list has improved dramatically.
• In a lively exchange in the parliament yesterday opposition leader and shadow prime minister Saber Hossain Chowdhury passionately appealed for a change in policy regarding decentralization of administration and appealed for common sense approach. Some ruling party members express unhappiness and are planning on voting with the opposition on this bill.

Can you picture this wonderful image of that newspaper edition? Do you see now the need for decent people returning to Bangladeshi politics again? A wake-up call to the existing political parties: adopt, update your politics, or perish. Stars have aligned, the timing is right and we are ready for you, Dr Yunus.

Asif Saleh is the founder of diaspora human rights organization, Drishtipat.

Discussion on this issue can be found at www.drishtipat.org/blog/2006/10/16/should-yunus-be-in-politics.