Staff Reporter:
Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus yesterday urged young people to participate more in politi-cal activities to translate their dreams into realities and bring meaningful changes to their respective soci-eties.
The Chief Adviser made the call when a group of young political activists from different political parties of Norway called on him at the State Guest house Jamuna in Dhaka.
‘We are encouraging young people to join politics; otherwise they cannot play an active role in policy-making,” the Chief Adviser told the visiting political activists.
The visiting Norwegian delegates include Najma Ahmed, deputy leader of the Socialist Youth League; Fawzi Warsame, international leader of AUF and member of the Central Board; Dane Skofterud, mem-ber of the Centre Party; Ola Svenneby, member of the Conservative Party; Hadle Rasmus Bjuland, member of the Christian Democrats; Tobias Stokkeland, Green Party-affiliated group Green Youth’s member; and Thyra Hakonslokken, former leader of Young Liberals of Innlandet.
Prof Yunus enquired about their political backgrounds, visions and activities. He also asked about the percentage of youth participation in mainstream politics of Norway.
The visiting political activists shared their experiences about meeting young people in Bangladesh, say-ing that many of these young Bangladeshis couldn’t even vote in their lifetime.
They asked what the interim government of Bangladesh was doing to ensure their voting rights.
“The main commitment of the new government is systematic reforms. For the last 15 years, people couldn’t vote. Across three terms, a fake voting system was in place; while authorities claimed it was a huge success, in reality, no one could vote. So, the reform of institutions is necessary to ensure young people can exercise their voting rights,” said the Chief Adviser.
Calling the country’s political environment “old-fashioned,” he said the main challenge the interim gov-ernment is facing is ‘cleaning the mess’ that it had inherited.
“Creating new structure in the new beginning by picking up pieces from rubble is the challenge,” said Chief Adviser.
“This is a transitional period for us. I just hope this transition will be short,” he added.
