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Hasina floats Yunus for World Bank job
Hasina floats Yunus for World Bank job | Bangladesh | bdnews24.com
Wed, Feb 22nd, 2012 2:53 pm BdST
By Toufique Imrose Khalidi
Dhaka, Feb 22 (bdnews24.com)The Bangladesh prime minister, widely known for her alleged role in removing Muhammad Yunus from his position as chief executive of Grameen Bank, is now proposing for him to take over as head of the Washington-based World Bank.
Reserved for an American for decades, the job carries a lot of clout in poor aid recipient countries such as Bangladesh, but mooting the idea that Yunus could be a contender is something to catch everyone by surprise.
She made the proposal at a meeting with a delegation of European MPs in Dhaka on Wednesday, a top aide to Sheikh Hasina said.
The aide, who declined to be named for now, told bdnews24.com PMO correspondent Sumon Mahbub that the 10-strong team of MEPs appreciated the proposal from the prime minister.
The aide did not give further details, only saying the meeting mainly dealt with Bangladesh's social development agenda and the EU's support for such efforts.
The current World Bank president, Bob Zoellick, announced last week that he would not seek re-appointment at the end of his five-year term this June. The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, is among those tipped to succeed Zoellick.
An American has always headed the Bank while the post of the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been occupied by a European national since the two were created after the World War II.
The two Bretton Woods institutions have often been criticised for their pro-West policy prescriptions that in many cases backfired in the developing world.
Yunus' appointment to the top job would mean a huge departure from the long-held tradition. Known as an ally and a good friend of the US Democrats', Yunus, if chosen, will have to transform himself from 'the lender to the poor individuals' to the lender to poor nations.
Of late, the Bank has had a tussle with the Bangladesh government over funding the country's biggest infrastructure project, the US$ 2.9 billion Padma Bridge, with the latter defiantly seeking other sources.
Surprise move
The move by the prime minister is surprising by any measure, given the animosity the two had developed after a 2010 Norwegian TV documentary revealed the country's aid agency Norad's displeasure in the late 1990s over Yunus' handling of aid money meant for Grameen Bank.
The Norad documents, classified till then, showed how Yunus was challenged by the then Norwegian ambassador to Bangladesh and how he sought to defend himself for failing to inform the donors before transferring the millions of dollars to a sister entity.
From the Norwegian point of view at that time, it was a breach of agreement on part of the recipient institution Grameen Bank and the ambassador lodged a strongly-worded complaint with the government's Economic Relations Division.
Yunus then travelled to Oslo to lobby the head of Norad and the matter was settled.
Years later when the documentary revealed those restricted documents, the Norwegian authorities, following another round of inquiry, said the matter had indeed been settled between the two sides.
Yunus, meanwhile, was named in 2006 winner of the Nobel prize along with Grameen Bank, founded in 1983 through a martial law ordinance. The poverty-fighting through micro-lending to the poor in Bangladesh was equated with peace-building work.
Sheikh Hasina, then opposition leader, was one of the first to congratulate the laureate and commend his work in micro-credit. But Yunus' botched attempt in 2007 to launch a political party allegedly with backing of the military-installed emergency government eroded much of his credibility with the political elite, and drew bi-partisan condemnation because of the fact he was allowed to carry out political activity while all major parties were banned from doing so.
Then the 2010 documentary triggered a new round of controversy over the Grameen way of lending and recovery, with the prime minister calling Yunus a blood sucker, a widely used reference to centuries-old tradition of usury in rural Bangladesh. Some left or left-of-the-centre academics in Bangladesh and elsewhere have always questioned the efficacy of the micro-credit as an anti-poverty tool.
Chief executive since Grameen was founded originally with government support and ownership, Yunus was then questioned by the central bank for continuing in his job far beyond the retirement age for any executive in any such institution in Bangladesh. Born on 28 June 1940, Yunus was nearly 71 when the Bangladesh Bank gave the notice in March 2011. Civil servants would retire at 57, most public university teachers at 60, top judges at 67 and bank CEOs at 65, but the move was seen by many more as a witch-hunt than enforcement of a rule already ignored for long.
Yunus went to the court and lost a series of legal battles, finally in the Supreme Court, eventually losing his hold on the institution he is credited with building.
Hasina has been widely criticised in and outside the country for her handling of the Yunus affair as the micro-credit promoter used all his PR muscles to wage a campaign against her government and herself.
Many have even suggested that the World Bank's refusal to go ahead with the Padma project had something to do with Yunus, who has allegedly used his powerful friends in Washington to lobby against Bangladesh's case. Yunus has all along denied any such possibility.
Yunus' personal friendship with the Clintons is quite well known, and there have been reports galore about Mrs Clinton pushing for a lenient approach from the Hasina government in the wake of the legal wrangling.
The latest Hasina move, given the context, will surely be seen as a masterstroke.
bdnews24.com/sum/jk/tik/1600h.
Hasina floats Yunus for World Bank job | Bangladesh | bdnews24.com
Wed, Feb 22nd, 2012 2:53 pm BdST
By Toufique Imrose Khalidi
Dhaka, Feb 22 (bdnews24.com)The Bangladesh prime minister, widely known for her alleged role in removing Muhammad Yunus from his position as chief executive of Grameen Bank, is now proposing for him to take over as head of the Washington-based World Bank.
Reserved for an American for decades, the job carries a lot of clout in poor aid recipient countries such as Bangladesh, but mooting the idea that Yunus could be a contender is something to catch everyone by surprise.
She made the proposal at a meeting with a delegation of European MPs in Dhaka on Wednesday, a top aide to Sheikh Hasina said.
The aide, who declined to be named for now, told bdnews24.com PMO correspondent Sumon Mahbub that the 10-strong team of MEPs appreciated the proposal from the prime minister.
The aide did not give further details, only saying the meeting mainly dealt with Bangladesh's social development agenda and the EU's support for such efforts.
The current World Bank president, Bob Zoellick, announced last week that he would not seek re-appointment at the end of his five-year term this June. The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, is among those tipped to succeed Zoellick.
An American has always headed the Bank while the post of the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been occupied by a European national since the two were created after the World War II.
The two Bretton Woods institutions have often been criticised for their pro-West policy prescriptions that in many cases backfired in the developing world.
Yunus' appointment to the top job would mean a huge departure from the long-held tradition. Known as an ally and a good friend of the US Democrats', Yunus, if chosen, will have to transform himself from 'the lender to the poor individuals' to the lender to poor nations.
Of late, the Bank has had a tussle with the Bangladesh government over funding the country's biggest infrastructure project, the US$ 2.9 billion Padma Bridge, with the latter defiantly seeking other sources.
Surprise move
The move by the prime minister is surprising by any measure, given the animosity the two had developed after a 2010 Norwegian TV documentary revealed the country's aid agency Norad's displeasure in the late 1990s over Yunus' handling of aid money meant for Grameen Bank.
The Norad documents, classified till then, showed how Yunus was challenged by the then Norwegian ambassador to Bangladesh and how he sought to defend himself for failing to inform the donors before transferring the millions of dollars to a sister entity.
From the Norwegian point of view at that time, it was a breach of agreement on part of the recipient institution Grameen Bank and the ambassador lodged a strongly-worded complaint with the government's Economic Relations Division.
Yunus then travelled to Oslo to lobby the head of Norad and the matter was settled.
Years later when the documentary revealed those restricted documents, the Norwegian authorities, following another round of inquiry, said the matter had indeed been settled between the two sides.
Yunus, meanwhile, was named in 2006 winner of the Nobel prize along with Grameen Bank, founded in 1983 through a martial law ordinance. The poverty-fighting through micro-lending to the poor in Bangladesh was equated with peace-building work.
Sheikh Hasina, then opposition leader, was one of the first to congratulate the laureate and commend his work in micro-credit. But Yunus' botched attempt in 2007 to launch a political party allegedly with backing of the military-installed emergency government eroded much of his credibility with the political elite, and drew bi-partisan condemnation because of the fact he was allowed to carry out political activity while all major parties were banned from doing so.
Then the 2010 documentary triggered a new round of controversy over the Grameen way of lending and recovery, with the prime minister calling Yunus a blood sucker, a widely used reference to centuries-old tradition of usury in rural Bangladesh. Some left or left-of-the-centre academics in Bangladesh and elsewhere have always questioned the efficacy of the micro-credit as an anti-poverty tool.
Chief executive since Grameen was founded originally with government support and ownership, Yunus was then questioned by the central bank for continuing in his job far beyond the retirement age for any executive in any such institution in Bangladesh. Born on 28 June 1940, Yunus was nearly 71 when the Bangladesh Bank gave the notice in March 2011. Civil servants would retire at 57, most public university teachers at 60, top judges at 67 and bank CEOs at 65, but the move was seen by many more as a witch-hunt than enforcement of a rule already ignored for long.
Yunus went to the court and lost a series of legal battles, finally in the Supreme Court, eventually losing his hold on the institution he is credited with building.
Hasina has been widely criticised in and outside the country for her handling of the Yunus affair as the micro-credit promoter used all his PR muscles to wage a campaign against her government and herself.
Many have even suggested that the World Bank's refusal to go ahead with the Padma project had something to do with Yunus, who has allegedly used his powerful friends in Washington to lobby against Bangladesh's case. Yunus has all along denied any such possibility.
Yunus' personal friendship with the Clintons is quite well known, and there have been reports galore about Mrs Clinton pushing for a lenient approach from the Hasina government in the wake of the legal wrangling.
The latest Hasina move, given the context, will surely be seen as a masterstroke.
bdnews24.com/sum/jk/tik/1600h.
