Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus speaks at Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, in London on Wednesday. – CAO Photo

Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus on Wednesday said there is no way that he would be interested to be part of the next elected government, stressing that their job is to ensure a well-managed transition to hand over power to an elected government through an election.

"No way, no way. I think no one of our cabinet members (Council of Advisers) would like to do that," he said when a journalist wanted to know whether Prof Yunus is in a position and has any desire to become part of the next democratically elected government which will take over after the election.

Prof Yunus categorically said their job is to make sure that the transition is managed well and people are happy when they hand over power to the elected government.

"We want to make sure that the election is right. This is a very critical factor for us," said the Chief Adviser.

The question and answer session was followed by his keynote address at Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London, as part of his ongoing public diplomacy efforts.

Speaking in the Main Hall on Wednesday, Professor Yunus discussed the key challenges and emerging opportunities for Bangladesh in a session chaired by Bronwen Maddox, Director and Chief Executive of Chatham House. He also took part in an open Q&A session with the audience.

The event was live-streamed, recorded, and partially open to the media.

In response to a question about the Bangladesh Awami League, Prof Yunus said there is a debate over whether the Awami League can truly be called a political party when it is accused of killing young people, making citizens disappear and stealing public money.

"Would you still call it a political party? So, that`s a debate, not a judgement," he said.

Prof Yunus said they thought that the chapter was closed when former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country on August 5 but those who fled the country (AL men) - not one of them expressed sorry but are exciting people.

He said the nation has decided, for the time being, to ban activities of the Awami League for the safety of the country and safety of the politicians. "Activities of the Awami League will be suspended for the time being....until the trial is done. That`s all we have done," Yunus said.

Asked about the media freedom, the Chief Adviser said the media had never enjoyed such freedom in the past.

Another journalist raised the issue of demolishing the historic Bangabandhu Memorial Museum by "City Corporation bulldozers, administration`s silence and the question of unity excluding particular parties or persons."

In reply, Prof Yunus said a lot of issues and questions came at the same time and they cannot handle everything in a right way. "It`s kind of a period we have gone through and things have come down and come to an order...bringing order to the nation was a big task for us."

Source: UNB