Honouring the visions and dreams of the country`s young people, Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus on Wednesday said their excitement about voting will be used to build a new Bangladesh.

“We honour their visions, their dreams... we want to say goodbye to the old Bangladesh,” he said at an event titled “In Conversation with HE Professor Muhammad Yunus” hosted by the Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House in London.

Yunus said that in the past 17 years, many young people reaching voting age never had the opportunity to cast their first vote.

“We want to channel the excitement of the youth to create a new Bangladesh,” he added.

He emphasised that the upcoming election would not be just a routine vote to elect a new government, but a vote to create a new Bangladesh. “That’s the promise we made,” he said.

Referring to the activities of the interim government, Yunus mentioned that numerous commissions had been formed to bring reforms in different sectors. “Ultimately, we constituted the National Consensus Building Commission,” he said.

He added that the aim was to implement the recommendations of the reform commissions with consensus from all political parties. “We call it the July Charter. We are waiting for July, next month... This charter will be presented to the nation. Based on this, the election will be held,” he explained.

Regarding the responsibilities of the interim government, Yunus said they had been tasked with three major objectives: reform, holding trials of those responsible for the killings during the July uprising, and conducting the national polls.

When asked about the economic situation when the interim government took office following the ouster of the Awami League regime, he acknowledged the difficulties they faced.

“It was a very tough job. While the world was facing its own challenges, Bangladesh had a different set of problems. We were at zero level economically, even in the negative. We had huge bills to pay,” he said.

Citing a white paper on the state of the economy, Prof Yunus claimed that about US$234 billion was siphoned abroad during the previous regime, while the country’s foreign exchange reserves were depleted and the banking sector had collapsed.

He praised the contributions of Bangladeshi expatriates in helping the country avoid economic disaster, noting that remittance inflows continued to rise. “Today, our balance of payments has completely changed,” he said.

Yunus also acknowledged the global support received by the interim government. “All countries gave moral support to our government, and we are grateful for that,” he added.

Source: BSS