Students ready to take the chance, Yunus tells FT on formation of new political party

The formation of a new political party by students is a possibility and they are campaigning, Chief Adviser of the interim government Muhammad Yunus told the Financial Times.

Speaking on a podcast during his visit to Davos, Switzerland, the chief adviser said, "This is a good time because always I'm protecting the unity of the nation. I do not want to depart from that. One of the possibility is the student themselves will form a party."

The podcast, titled "Rachman Review," hosted by Gideon Rachman, the chief foreign affairs commentator for the Financial Times, featured a conversation between the chief adviser and Rachman on a variety of global issues.  

The recorded discussion was released in written form today (30 January).

The chief adviser said, "In the beginning when they are forming the cabinet, I took three of the students into my cabinet. I said, if they can give life for the country, they can sit in the cabinet and decide what is that they are giving life for. And they are doing good work. 

"Now the students are saying, why don't you form your our own political party, we'll take a chance. And they said, you have no chance. You don't even get one seat in the parliament. Why? Because nobody knows you. I said the whole nation knows them. Let them take a chance, whatever they want to do. So they will do it."

Yunus further said, "Maybe in the process of forming party, they will fall apart. That's also a danger because politics is getting in, all the politicians will penetrate into them. So we don't know whether they can remove themselves from the politics that we have in the country.

"This is the kind of chance we have to take. But the students are ready. They are campaigning. They are organising throughout the country."

In response to another question, Dr Yunus said, "Young people are really committed. They have not a touch of ill will or a personal desire to make a political career for themselves. They are joining or creating political party under the circumstances."

Mentioning that this is needed because they [students] have to protect the things they have earned by their blood, the chief adviser said, "Otherwise, they will be taken away by all the people who are looking for opportunity to repeat the previous kind of administration and so on. So they are trying to protect that. So I would say students will have transparent intentions."

Amid ongoing discussions that the student representative in the interim government is going to form a new political party, Information Adviser Nahid Islam today stated that no decision has been made regarding their resignation from the cabinet to join a new political party.

Nahid's comments came after a Bangla daily reported that advisers Nahid Islam and Asif Mahmud were set to resign from the cabinet and join a political party that is likely to be formed next month.

"No such decision has been made by either myself or Asif [Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuiyan]. We are continuing with our government duties," Nahid said.