Chief Adviser to the interim government Professor Muhammad Yunus on Wednesday urged the people to cooperate with the government to accomplish reforms, announcing formation of six commissions to carry out the job.
"We want reforms. It is our sincere request - please do not go to the spectators' gallery after bestowing the key responsibility of reform on us. Stay with us. We will do the reform together. It is the responsibility for all," he said in a 33-minute-long televised address to the nation through Bangladesh Television (BTV).
Professor Yunus called upon all to bring reform to their own worlds too, saying bringing reform to a nation does not mean only reform of the government.
"Bring reform in your business if you are a businessman. Business groups should bring reforms through their respective associations. Bring reforms in associations. Rewrite the constitution of the associations. If you are a worker, you should bring reform in your work," he said.
"If you are a political leader or activist, bring reform in your field. Bring reform in your organisation if you are the head of the organisation.
I urge everyone to take this as an opportunity. Through this reform, we want to start a new journey as a nation. We all expect that this journey would establish us as a respectable nation in the world," the chief adviser said.
Dr Yunus, who took the helm of the interim government following the fall of an autocratic regime in a student-people uprising, said the fascist government of Bangladesh has fallen in the face of the historic July Uprising of students, workers and masses and the sacrifice of thousands of people.
"We have got an unprecedented time and opportunity to implement the message and aspirations of this mass-upsurge," he said.
It has become necessary to complete some national reforms in order to implement the aspirations and prevent the recurrence of fascism or autocratic rule in Bangladesh and introduce a state system based on people's ownership, welfare-oriented and dedicated to public interest, he said.
Electoral system reform
The chief adviser said that one of the central points of the reform plans is to establish a fair election system and good governance.
"As we believe in people's voting rights and people's ownership, the improvement of the electoral system has been given importance in our reform plans. We think, it is in no acceptable way to impose tyranny and misrule of the majority on the people in the name of elections or to keep all the power monopolised to a person or family or any group," he said.
Dr Yunus said that the interim government is thinking of reforming the Election Commission (EC) and other institutions related to elections to eliminate these fears.
"In addition, we feel the need for constitutional reforms to ensure the representation and interests of people from all walks of life and to reflect the message of the mass uprising of July," he said.
The chief adviser noted the reform of four institutions—police administration, public administration, judicial administration, anti-corruption commission—which are related to the electoral system is essential for fair and free elections, he said.
As an initial step to reform these issues, the government has initially decided to form six commissions, he said.
The chief adviser said six eminent citizens have been appointed as heads of these commissions. Dr Badiul Alam Majumdar will act as the head of electoral system reform commission while Sarfraz Chowdhury as head of police administration reform commission, Justice Shah Abu Naeem Mominur Rahman as head of judiciary reform commission, Dr Iftekharuzzaman as head of the anti-corruption reform commission, Abdul Muyeed Chowdhury as head of public administration reform commission and Dr Shahdeen Malik as head of constitution reform commission.
After this, the government will continue the process of formation of commissions on various other issues, he added.
‘We must succeed’
Prof Yunus noted that the Election Commission, once fully constituted, is expected to formally begin its work on October 1 and they expect it to be completed within the next three months.
“Based on the commission's report, the government will hold consultations with major political parties at the next stage,” he said adding that at the final stage, the outline of reform ideas will be finalised on the basis of a three-to-seven-day long consultation meeting with students, civil society, representatives of political parties and representatives of the government.
“It will also give an idea of how this outline will be implemented,” Prof Yunus said.
Advisory council members, students, workers, representatives of mass movements, representatives of civil society and political parties will be present in the deliberations and consultation meetings of the commissions.
He said they have a lot of work ahead of them and they all want to move towards the same goal. “Let us quickly implement the goal of this revolution of students, workers and people.”
Prof Yunus said in their first month, they may not have been able to move forward with the speed and enthusiasm that they had in view of the actual situation.
“If the law and order situation of the country is kept normal, we hope we can boost our speed a lot. For this reason, I am asking for the cooperation of all the people of the country,” he said.
He said their work is tough, but as a nation they cannot afford to fail this time. “We must succeed. This success will come because of you and it will come because of your cooperation. Our job will be to make your and my dreams come true.”
Prof Yunus said they are starting the second month. “In our second month, I will try to create strong confidence in your mind.”
“Be patient, I will not tell you this at all. We all get impatient thinking when so much work will be completed. We will be impatient. Why not? But it will work properly. I will show no sign of impatience in work,” he said.
Pharma & RMG
Acknowledging the pains of workers, Chief Adviser Yunus said the government wants to take the pharmaceutical and garment industries to their potential peak and there is no question of weakening these two key industries.
“The pharmaceutical and garment industries are the pride of the country. Through this, our workers' brothers and sisters and their efficiency have impressed the world. Its success has now hindered. We want to remove the obstacles by identifying the problems of these two industries,” he said.
Prof Yunus said they will gather foreign buyers and seek their cooperation so that these two industries of Bangladesh can become more reliable than other countries in the world.
“Everything is possible if we can make the labour-owner relationship a reliable and enjoyable one,” he said, adding that the first month of the government has passed and from the second month they want to start a new labour-owner relationship as part of building a new Bangladesh.
The Nobel laureate said they have many responsibilities. “We have to work together on a number of issues to build a just society,” he said.
Relationship with neighbours
Professor Muhammad Yunus reiterated that they want good relations with India and other neighbouring countries. But, he said, that relationship should be based on fairness and equality.
"With India, we have already started discussions on high-level bilateral cooperation in dealing with floods," he said while adding that he has taken the initiative to revive the SAARC grouping of nations with a view to enhancing regional cooperation in South Asia.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif are among the heads of government that have had telephone conversations with him, Prof Yunus said.
Ambassadors and high commissioners stationed in Dhaka met him and assured him of strengthening bilateral cooperation.
“At my request, the government of the United Arab Emirates announced amnesty to 57 Bangladeshis who were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment for participating in anti-fascist protests,” Prof Yunus said.
