Finance Minister AMA Muhith said the nine “pro-Yunus” women directors of Grameen Bank would lose their positions once parliament approved the Grameen Bank Law 2013 bill.
“Professor Yunus used to select the women directors as per his choice and there have been no elections in the Grameen Bank in the 30 years since its inception,” the finance minister told the Dhaka Tribune on Sunday in Washington.
He also said a new election, under a new set of rules, would be held for the GB board within a short time after the law was passed in parliament.
“Grameen Bank board is currently non-functional because of Professor Yunus’ strong influence over the bank, despite the government’s stake and its three members,” he said.
The finance minister also expressed his dissatisfaction with the activities of the chairman of the Grameen Bank Commission saying he did not complete his job of submittinga complete report on Grameen Bank,rather only submitted a synopsis.
“Commission Chairman Mamun-ur-Rashid wants two more months to complete the report on the relation between the Grameen Bank and 54 associated organisations,” he said.
“The bank will now be under direct control of the central bank, to give the authorities more powers over the microcredit organisation,” he added.
But he said the government was not bringing any major changes in Grameen Bank’s structure. The ownership structure would remain the same with the borrower-shareholders owning 75% and the government 25%.
The number of government-appointed directors in the 12-member board would also remain three as it is now but quorumwould be made from three members instead of four.
The quorum would be increased phase by phase, he added.
“We will never accept the proposals—it is part of the government’s scheme to take over the bank,” Tahsina Khatun, a member of Grameen Bank board, told the Dhaka Tribune over phone on Sunday.
She said every item in the draft election rule was against the interests of the bank – and was, therefore, unnecessary.
“The existing rules have served us well over the years, and we will stick with them,” she said, adding that if outsiders were brought in to conduct elections it would only create chaos.
Tahsina said the government had targeted the elected directors as the current nine members had been very vocal against any state intervention since Prof Yunus stepped down as managing director in 2011 and had managed to block all the authorities’ plans.
“We are real borrowers of the bank. If the government dismisses the nine women directorsit will spell disaster for the bank. The meetingswould be held even without the women directors, as the quorum can be met by three members of the government,” she said.
The finance minister said the appointment of a permanent managing director for the bank was of utmost importance now.
“The government is taking steps to have the High Court petition, which has stalled the process of appointing the managing director, withdrawn so that it can appoint the next chief executive,” he said.
“Once the injunction is withdrawn, we will appoint the MD. The main reason [behind the delay] is Prof Yunus, because he wants one of his own people as MD,” he added.
He also said a panel had proposed appointing deputy commissioners to oversee the elections for nine borrower-director posts in the 12 member Grameen Bank board.
At present, the government appoints three of the directors, including the chairman of the microcredit organisation’s board, while the remaining nine members, all of whom are women borrowers, are elected from grassroots level through a three-tier election system.
But a committee, formed in April by the finance ministry, suggested a two-tier system. In the first tier, the borrower-shareholders of each of the nine constituencies would elect a 15-member electoral body.
The finance minister said the members of the nine electoral bodies would then decide among themselves who would be serving as directors.
