CA returns home today
Chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus has stressed the need for establishing a mechanism so that everyone in Bangladesh can vote freely and fairly, without any interruptions or threats.
He put the emphasis during a one-on-one conversation with the founder of the World Economic Forum Klaus Schwab at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos of Switzerland on Thursday, said a Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha report.
Yunus is set to depart Davos for Dhaka Friday night (Switzerland time) via Zurich International Airport, concluding his busy four-day schedule at the WEF annual meeting, which included nearly 50 engagements, reported United News of Bangladesh.
Permanent representative of Bangladesh to the UN in Geneva ambassador Tareq Md Ariful Islam would see him off at the Zurich International Airport. Yunus would reach Dhaka Saturday evening, the UNB report said.
According to the BSS report, while sharing the background stories of the July mass uprising with the global audience, the chief adviser said that the students took to the streets in Bangladesh in the July last year with a simple demand-equal opportunity for jobs.
He narrated how the students during their protest painted graffiti on the walls of Dhaka, expressing their desires and dreams.
Yunus said that all the young people who became voters over the last 16 years did not get a chance to vote, which was very unfortunate.
Presenting the reform agendas of the incumbent interim government, the 84-year-old economist and the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner said that unless they knew what kind of election the country鈥檚 people wanted, they could not go into polls.
Mentioning that the government was waiting to hold an election, he said that the country鈥檚 people had to decide the process then 鈥� whether they would go for the short agenda or the long agenda.
The chief adviser said that they had targeted the end of 2025 for the election to take place if people went for a quick reform agenda.
鈥業f people say, no - we need a longer list of reforms; we need another six months,鈥� he said.
Terming the present generation as the most powerful generation in human history, the chief adviser said that it was the generation of world having a huge potential.
About the role of students, he stated that technology had transformed them; they were no longer just Bangladeshi youths but they had become part of a global generation.
鈥榃e define that new Bangladesh and we are committed to creating that new Bangladesh,鈥� professor Yunus said.
The chief adviser said that demands from the movement reflected a desire to move beyond the old Bangladesh and work towards creating a new one.
He talked about a consensus commission to build national unity, and based on the consensus of all parties and civil society organisations, they would prepare the 鈥楯uly Charter鈥�, a document named after the month of July when a mass uprising took place in Bangladesh.
Former US vice-president Al Gore, who has emerged as one of the world鈥檚 top climate change activists, praised the global 鈥楾hree Zero鈥� movement launched by professor Yunus to combat carbon emissions, wealth concentration, poverty and unemployment while he met Yunus on the same day, said another BSS report.
During the meeting, he vowed to support Bangladesh鈥檚 reform programmes taken by the Yunus鈥檚 interim government, chief adviser鈥檚 deputy press secretary Abul Kalam Azad Majumder told media.
They discussed the July uprising, climate change, mitigation of the adverse impacts of global warming, the reform initiatives undertaken by the Bangladesh interim government, and election and geopolitical issues.
The former US vice-president expressed his support for the Bangladesh鈥檚 reform programmes and fixing Bangladesh鈥檚 institutions and its democratic transition through a free and fair election.
Professor Yunus handed him a copy of 鈥楾he Art of Triumph鈥�, the celebrated art book on graffiti and wall paintings drawn during the July uprising.
Al Gore lauded the 鈥榓mazing鈥� book and the revolutionary spirit of the Bangladeshi young people. 鈥業 looked at every page of the book,鈥� he said.
On Friday, American investor Ray Dalio, founder of Marino Management and Dalio Family Office, Amer Alireza, chairman of the executive committee, Xenel Group (Red Sea Gateway Terminal Company), met Yunus during the summit. They discussed areas of cooperation, according to BSS.
The chief adviser is scheduled to attend seven events on his final day of his visit to Switzerland on the day.
