Bangladesh has 8.01 crore voters and the records show that only about 50 to 60 percent voters actually vote on the Election Day. If we consider 85 lakh Grameen members along with their husbands and adult children, it could easily exceed two crore. Grameen members are organised entrepreneurs who actually vote on the Election Day and are also capable of influencing others to vote.

So, “Grameen Voters” are about one half of all the voters who vote. In my judgment, if needed, “Gremeen Voters” are capable of electing candidates of their choice in any part of the country. The current government and its supporters made a fatal mistake by trying to take over the Grameen Bank. We all know what happened to the government run Sonali Bank and others due to corruption and inefficiency.

If we examine the voting patterns in the recently held Gazipur mayoral election, a record number of women voters lined up to vote. Many believe that members of the Grameen Bank within Gazipur area came to vote against the candidate supported by the government. An anti-government sentiment was the driving force for Grameen voters as it was the case for many other voters. Unfortunately, the alternative choice was equally bad. We all know how BNP ruled the country in the five years during its tenure before people ousted them from office and gave all the anti-BNP votes to Awami League (AL).

If there is a general election towards the end of this year, people may oust Awami League and give most of the anti-AL votes to BNP. It is almost certain that BNP will repeat all the misdeeds that AL did for the last five years and possibly more. In addition, two top leaders of both parties are still using their dead father and husband as vehicles to get votes and are grooming their sons to take over the helm in the near future. This is a very unfortunate trend and people of Bangladesh must reject such arrangements.

What can people of Bangladesh do as they are stuck with two equally bad choices? We have seen military rules several times and that did not do any good either. So, something new must be developed and for that the country needs a leader who is highly capable and also has integrity, credibility, and worldwide acceptability. Prof. Yunus is certainly such a leader. People of Bangladesh should rally together and ask Prof. Yunus for his competent leadership to rescue Bangladesh from this vicious political crisis. Although Prof. Yunus has repeatedly said that he was no longer interested in politics, but I strongly believe that he would not be able to deny requests of the people of Bangladesh. The time is now for the people of Bangladesh to call upon Prof. Yunus to provide leadership in putting together a ‘’National Unity Front.”

Here is something for all political leaders to think about. If an election is held today, any candidate jointly presented by all political parties against AL will win in most cases. It would be prudent for all political parties to join a “National Unity Front” against AL. However, if any well-known honest and capable AL leader wants to defect, the Front should consider that on a case by case basis. Each party and the leaders will sign an election manifesto that will have a number of items including but not limited to:

1. Code of conducts of each party, leaders, and members

2. How seats will be distributed among the front members

3. Qualifications to be an acceptable candidate for the parliament seat

4. Qualifications and process of becoming a minister, speaker, or other leaders

5. Any elected official found guilty of corruption will automatically lose the seat.

We all have seen what AL and BNP leaders did when they had two-third plus majority in parliament and formed government. Therefore, a new mechanism must be established so that no single party would be able to form the government. Under this plan, BNP should be limited to 100 seats, 100 seats should be distributed among all the other political parties joining the front, and the remaining 100 seats should be filled with leaders from business, retired civil and military officers, labour, agricultural, education, and other vital sectors. These 100 candidates must be approved by at least 80 percent of the members of the front. It is also important to note that if any person, who has been known for corruption and criminal activities, should not be selected by the front for nomination.

In order to convince Prof. Yunus to consider such an arrangement, all members of the front should agree to the highest level of moral and ethical standards. All candidates must present complete details of their financials to the Election Commission and on the website while submitting nomination papers.

I have had the opportunity to see Prof. Yunus in action around the globe. Leaders of every country in the world are eager to benefit from his wisdom. People of over 150 countries are benefiting from his micro credit idea. His new idea of “Social Business” is catching up and will probably bring him the second Nobel Prize. Prof. Yunus is an honest individual who leads a simple and very active lifestyle. All his Grameen institutions are free from corruptions and he knows how to get things done legally, ethically, and honestly in a transparent way. It is unfortunate that due to the ill-intent of the government, people of Bangladesh are being deprived of his talent and global connections. Bangladesh could have benefited immensely by using Prof. Yunus had the government leaders had the good intentions of helping the country rather than their own pockets.

Bangladesh is at a critical juncture. One hundred and sixty five million people of Bangladesh are looking for new directions and many are hoping that Prof. Yunus will consider providing his able leadership to form a “National Unity Front” to provide a new life to Bangladesh.

The writer is an Economist and a

Senior Administrator of Tuskegee University, USA.