Yunus calls for a system allowing people to vote 'freely, fairly without any threat'
Prof Yunus said they have targeted the end of this year for the election to take place if people go for a quick reform agenda
Sharing a background story of a changed Bangladesh with his global audience, Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus has laid emphasis on creating a mechanism so that everybody in Bangladesh can vote "freely and fairly" without any "interruption or threat" to anybody while exercising their democratic rights.
During a one-to-one conversation with World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab, 84-year-old economist and the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Prof Yunus said all the young people who became voters over the last 16 years did not have a chance to vote which is very unfortunate.
Unless they know what kind of election the people of the country want, the Chief Adviser said they can not go into the election.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
He said they are waiting to hold the election and now people have to decide the process - whether they will go for the short agenda or the long agenda.
Dr Yunus said they have targeted the end of this year for the election to take place if people go for a quick reform agenda.
"If people say, no - we need a longer list of reforms, then we need another six months," he said.
The Chief Adviser spoke of the student protests that brought down a 15-year tenure of Sheikh Hasina last July.
This is the most powerful generation in human history, he announced, before addressing politicians around the world.
Dr Yunus described the reforms the interim government is undertaking to prepare the country of 171 million people for free and fair elections, possibly as soon as the end of 2025.
Reflecting on the role of the students, he said technology has changed them - they are not Bangladeshi young people anymore, they are global young people.
"We define that new Bangladesh and we are committed to creating that new Bangladesh," said the Chief Adviser.
He said the demands from the movement came that they do not want to go back to the old Bangladesh, so they had to make a new Bangladesh.
Dr Yunus said they do not want to go back to that kind of tradition of elections without votes.
He talked about a consensus commission to build a consensus around each piece of their work and based on the agreement of all parties and civil society organisations, they will prepare what they call the "July charter," the month when the uprising took place in Bangladesh.
Dr Yunus said they are smarter than any other generation because of the technology they have. "So, this young generation can expand their views and create their own world."
Encouraging the young people to become entrepreneurs, the Chief Adviser said they are preparing them to take a job but job-oriented education is finished. "I said this generation is a generation of entrepreneurs."
Dr Yunus said they see enormous amounts of support internationally for Bangladesh and its people.
Klaus Schwab, impressed by Dr Yunus' speech, expressed his happiness over the "exceptional" half-hour conversation with a "visionary" man.
The Chief Adviser is scheduled to leave Davos for Dhaka on Friday night (Switzerland time) via Zurich International Airport wrapping up his very busy four-day visit with nearly 50 engagements. He will return home on 25 January.
He arrived here in Zurich, Switzerland on Tuesday afternoon to attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.
Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN in Geneva Ambassador Tareq Md Ariful Islam received the Chief Adviser at the airport upon his arrival.
Chief Adviser's Special Envoy on International Affairs Lutfey Siddiqi, Principal Coordinator on SDGs Affairs (Senior Secretary) Lamiya Morshed, Chief Adviser's Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam and Secretary (West) M Riaz Hamidullah, among others, accompanied Dr Yunus during the visit.
Bangladesh highlighted its efforts for an improved business and investment climate during the annual meeting of the WEF in Switzerland to attract the global business leaders and investors giving them the confidence to explore the opportunities that Bangladesh offers.
The annual meeting 2of 025 brought global leaders to address key global and regional challenges.
These include responding to geopolitical shocks, stimulating growth to improve living standards, and stewarding just and inclusive energy transition.
This year's meeting convened under the theme 'Collaboration for the Intelligent Age' and the programme will be oriented around five distinct but highly interconnected thematic priorities:
The meeting brought together nearly 3,000 leaders from over 130 countries, and 350 governmental leaders, including 60 heads of states and governments, from all key regions.
