Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus on Friday told the international community that Bangladesh is committed to building a balanced democratic order where no elected leader would be able to undermine democracy.
"Our goal is clear: to create a democratic order where power is balanced, where no autocrat can ever return, where no elected leader can destroy democracy, and where those who are meant to protect the people can never again prey upon them," he said.
Prof Yunus made the remarks while speaking at the 80th United Nations General Assembly in presence of global leaders and key political representatives from Bangladesh.
Now, as the country prepares for the national elections in February next year, the Chief Adviser said they remain steadfast in carrying forward reforms that place citizens at the center.
"Our focus is unchanging: transparency, accountability, and the rule of law," Prof Yunus said.
To realise this vision, Prof Yunus said, they established eleven independent commissions on governance, the judiciary, elections, public administration, law enforcement, anti-corruption, women’s rights and other vital areas.
These commissions consulted citizens, studied deeply and produced detailed proposals for reform, he said.
To anchor these reforms in permanence, Prof Yunus said they created a National Consensus Commission, which brought together more than thirty political parties and coalitions.
"Its aim was simple yet historic: to forge a collective pledge that transcends party lines. That effort succeeded. On the first anniversary of the July Uprising, we stood together on one stage and announced the 'July Declaration', a time-bound commitment to reform," he said.
That commitment means that no matter who wins the next election, the reform process will not stop, will not reverse, and will not be undone.
Last year, in this Assembly, he spoke to the global leaders from a country that had just witnessed a popular uprising. "I shared with you our aspirations for transformation," Prof Yunus said.
"Today, I stand here to tell you how far we have come on that journey," he said.
Out of every hundred people on this planet nearly three live in Bangladesh.
"But our story is not important because of our numbers, nor because of our geopolitical location. Our story matters because it is a reminder of the extraordinary power of ordinary people," Prof Yunus said.
"It matters because it inspires hope among nations everywhere: that no matter how deep the crisis, no matter how impossible the solution may seem, the path to renewal is never lost," he said.
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1971 Struggle
Prof Yunus said Bangladesh was born in 1971 through a bloody struggle for equality, for human dignity and for social justice.
"Yet the very rights for which we shed so much blood, the very freedoms for which we sacrificed so much, have been denied again and again over the past five decades," he said.
"Time and again spearheaded by our youth, the people of Bangladesh have risen, endured sacrifice, and reclaimed those rights," Prof Yunus said.
This year, Bangladesh marked the first anniversary of the July Uprising. "It was our youth who stood up, it was our youth who defeated tyranny, and it was our youth who opened the path to a new journey of building a just and equal society," said Prof Yunus.
He said the responsibility to carry that vision forward was placed on my shoulders and on those of my colleagues.
"Rebuilding a devastated economy and state demanded nothing less than profound institutional reforms," Prof Yunus said.
The Chief Adviser said they could have chosen the easy path: reforms imposed by executive order.
"But we chose the hard path: reforms built through inclusion and sustained through consensus. We chose the path that endures," he said.
In the beginning, Prof Yunus extended hi congratulations to Annalena Baerbock on assuming the presidency of the General Assembly as only the fifth woman in the history of the United Nations to hold this office.
"The delegation of Bangladesh will extend its fullest cooperation to you in the discharge of your duties," he said.
Prof Yunus also congratulated all Member States on the eightieth anniversary of the United Nations Charter.
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"This session is especially important, both for looking back at our journey and for shaping the road ahead," he said.
Over the past eight decades, the United Nations has steadily expanded its scope of work and deepened its engagement in many areas.
"It has played an indispensable role in advancing peace and security, in promoting human rights, in improving lives across the world, and in upholding justice, fairness, and equality," Prof Yunus said.
Because of the United Nations, today more than 130 million vulnerable people in 120 countries receive urgent food and humanitarian support.
"Nearly 45 percent of the world’s children are immunized through its efforts. Its agencies stand by those in distress, delivering food, clean water, sanitation, vaccines, and other life-saving services in every corner of the world," he said.
At the same time, Prof Yunus said they have also witnessed the limitations of the United Nations in resolving conflicts between states and in confronting major global challenges.
"Yet, on the whole, its role has been overwhelmingly positive and beneficial for humanity," he said.
BNP Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, BNP leader Humayun Kabir, Nayeb-e-Ameer of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Syeed Abdullah Muhammad Taher, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mohammad Nakibur Rahman, National Citizen Party member secretary Akhter Hossen and first senior joint member secretary of National Citizen Party Dr Tasnim Jara accompanied the Chief Adviser as part of the Bangladesh delegation to the UNGA.
Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain, Law Adviser Dr Asif Nazrul, Energy Adviser Fouzul Kabir Khan, SDGs Affairs Principal Coordinator Lamiya Morshed, Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam were also present.