UNGA: CA Yunus vows citizen-centred reforms ahead of February polls
"As we prepare for national elections in February next year, we remain steadfast in carrying forward reforms that place citizens at the centre. Our focus is unchanging: transparency, accountability, and the rule of law," he says
Highlights
- CA Yunus stresses citizen-centred reforms ahead of February elections
- Focus on transparency, accountability, and rule of law
- Reforms guaranteed to continue regardless of election outcome.
Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus today (26 September) reaffirmed the interim government's commitment to reforms that prioritise citizens.
Speaking at the General Debate of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, he said, "As we prepare for national elections in February next year, we remain steadfast in carrying forward reforms that place citizens at the centre.
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"Our focus is unchanging: transparency, accountability, and the rule of law."
He emphasised that the interim government has taken responsibility to rebuild the economy and state through deep institutional reforms.
Rather than imposing reforms by executive order, the chief adviser explained, the government has chosen a participatory approach. "Our goal is clear: to create a democratic order where power is balanced, where no autocrat can ever return, where no elected leader can destroy democracy, and where those who are meant to protect the people can never again prey upon them," he said.
To realise this vision, Yunus said, they established 11 independent commissions on governance, the judiciary, elections, public administration, law enforcement, anti-corruption, women's rights and other vital areas. "Citizens were consulted in the process, and detailed proposals were produced."
To anchor these reforms in permanence, Yunus said they created a National Consensus Commission, which brought together more than thirty political parties and coalitions.
Yunus further said, "Its aim was simple yet historic: to forge a collective pledge that transcends party lines. That effort succeeded. On the first anniversary of the July Uprising, we stood together on one stage and announced the 'July Declaration', a time-bound commitment to reform."
"That commitment means that no matter who wins the next election, the reform process will not stop, will not reverse, and will not be undone," he added.
Last year, in this Assembly, he spoke to the global leaders from a country that had just witnessed a popular uprising. "I shared with you our aspirations for transformation," Prof Yunus said.
"Today, I stand here to tell you how far we have come on that journey," he said. "Out of every hundred people on this planet, nearly three live in Bangladesh."
"But our story is not important because of our numbers, nor because of our geopolitical location. Our story matters because it is a reminder of the extraordinary power of ordinary people," Yunus said.
"It matters because it inspires hope among nations everywhere: that no matter how deep the crisis, no matter how impossible the solution may seem, the path to renewal is never lost," he said.
1971 struggle
Yunus told the international community that Bangladesh was born in 1971 through a bloody struggle for equality, for human dignity and for social justice.
"Yet the very rights for which we shed so much blood, the very freedoms for which we sacrificed so much, have been denied again and again over the past five decades," he said.
"Time and again spearheaded by our youth, the people of Bangladesh have risen, endured sacrifice, and reclaimed those rights," Yunus said.
This year, Bangladesh marked the first anniversary of the July Uprising. "It was our youth who stood up, it was our youth who defeated tyranny, and it was our youth who opened the path to a new journey of building a just and equal society," said Yunus.
He said the responsibility to carry that vision forward was placed on my shoulders and on those of my colleagues.
"Rebuilding a devastated economy and state demanded nothing less than profound institutional reforms," Yunus said.
The chief adviser said they could have chosen the easy path: reforms imposed by executive order.
"But we chose the hard path: reforms built through inclusion and sustained through consensus. We chose the path that endures," he said.
In the beginning, Yunus extended hi congratulations to Annalena Baerbock on assuming the presidency of the General Assembly as only the fifth woman in the history of the United Nations to hold this office.
"The delegation of Bangladesh will extend its fullest cooperation to you in the discharge of your duties," he said.
Yunus also congratulated all Member States on the eightieth anniversary of the United Nations Charter.
"This session is especially important, both for looking back at our journey and for shaping the road ahead," he said.
Over the past eight decades, the United Nations has steadily expanded its scope of work and deepened its engagement in many areas.
"It has played an indispensable role in advancing peace and security, in promoting human rights, in improving lives across the world, and in upholding justice, fairness, and equality," Yunus said.
Because of the United Nations, today more than 130 million vulnerable people in 120 countries receive urgent food and humanitarian support.
"Nearly 45% of the world's children are immunised through its efforts. Its agencies stand by those in distress, delivering food, clean water, sanitation, vaccines, and other life-saving services in every corner of the world," he said.
At the same time, Yunus said they have also witnessed the limitations of the United Nations in resolving conflicts between states and in confronting major global challenges.
"Yet, on the whole, its role has been overwhelmingly positive and beneficial for humanity," he said.
BNP Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, BNP leader Humayun Kabir, Nayeb-e-Ameer of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Syeed Abdullah Muhammad Taher, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mohammad Nakibur Rahman, first senior joint member secretary of National Citizen Party Dr Tasnim Jara and NCP leader Akhter Hossen accompanied the Chief Adviser as part of the Bangladesh delegation to the UNGA.
Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain, Law Adviser Dr Asif Nazrul, Energy Adviser Fouzul Kabir Khan, SDGs Affairs Principal Coordinator Lamiya Morshed, Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam were also present.
