Yunus waiting for Hilary to become US president: PM
The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, on Monday said Nobel Laureate professor Muhammad Yunus was now waiting for Hilary Clinton to become the next US president so that he gets her backing in ‘creating troubles’ to her government.
She alleged that Yunus, also the Grameen Bank founding managing director, had been conspiring against the government after losing the position of the Grameen Bank chief in 2011.
Chairing the weekly cabinet meeting at the Cabinet Division, the prime minister alleged that Yunus was be
hind the cancellation of the Padma bridge funding by World Bank, said a minister seeking anonymity.
Hasina made the remarks as road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader invited her to inaugurate the construction of the main bridge over the river Padma at Mawa in Munshiganj on December 12.
Several ministers joined the informal discussion at the meeting.
Hasina said that her government was implementing the $2.9 billion bridge construction project with its own fund after donor agencies led by World Bank cancelled the credit programme on allegation of corruption conspiracy in 2012.
Bangladesh Bank removed Yunus as managing director of Grameen Bank in March 2011 when he turned 71 on the ground that he had exceeded the retirement age of 60.
The Supreme Court declared that Yonus became ineligible for holding the office after he became 60.
Hasina said Yunus took the issue to the court with the advice of senior lawyer Dr Kamal Hossain but lost the legal battle.
She said that Yunus declined to accept the post of adviser to the Grameen Bank when offered.
‘The government had nothing to do as Yunus lost the legal battle,’ the minister quoted the prime minister as saying.
Hilary is the most likely candidate for Democrats in 2016 presidential election in the United States, media reported quoting the latest polls.
In her previous term in September 2013, the cabinet of Hasina ordered prosecution of Yunus on charge of income tax evasion as a ‘wage earner’ on his income during foreign tours between 2004 and 2011.
The origin of Grameen Bank can be traced back to 1976 when Yunus launched a research project to examine the possibility of designing a credit delivery system, without taking any collateral that targeted the rural poor, especially women.
In October 1983, the Grameen Bank Project was transformed into a bank by a law.
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