As we all know, "Grameen Bank" and micro-finance vaulted him to global recognition and earned him the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize.

The name "Grameen" is a stunning success -- 2 for 2, if you will. Hence, as logic would have it, the new political party being contemplated by Yunus may take the name "Bangladesh Grameen Party."

On Tuesday, February 13, echoing a statement from his open letter, Nobel laureate Yunus said: "Bangladesh has immense potential, and we have to tap it by ensuring worthy political leadership and culture."

He even voiced his intention to contest for a parliamentary seat as an independent candidate if formation of his political party is not consummated before the upcoming election.

Columnists and commentators have already rushed to express their guarded optimism about his success in politics, while cautioning that history may ultimately regard his foray into politics as little more than a misadventure.

It seems that no one wants to fall behind with his prediction of the trajectory that Yunus's political career will assume.

The Nobel laureate should do what he thinks he is capable of doing. I certainly encourage him to bring his vision into a political theatre that has been besmirched for so long by crooks masquerading as public servants.

Certainly he can intuit what impediments in politics lie in wait for him.

The mission to fight corruption, establish the rule of law, and maintain good governance, is what Yunus says is the guiding force behind his decision to join politics and form a new political party.

His statements that the new party would be devoid of corrupt politicians but inclusive of honest and competent Bangladeshis from home and abroad are widely applauded.

There are essentially three factors which form the basis for the formation of a political party. They are: Cost of entry, benefits of office and the probability of receiving electoral support.

This simple model was tested using pooled time-series cross-sectional data from 22 OECD countries for elections held between 1960 and 2002.

The results show that new parties are more frequent when the cost of entry is low, the benefit of entry is high, and the probability of drawing votes is high.

Of the three factors, cost of entry to politics, especially for Yunus, depends on what would happen to the further expansion of Grameen Bank, notwithstanding the risk to his personal reputation and image at home and abroad.

With respect to electoral support, Yunus said: "I have got tremendous support from the people for launching a new political party. I want to be in politics for the commoners who would be the foundation of my politics."

Party literature stresses that new parties must overcome a host of barriers before becoming significant political actors.

To succeed, a new party must have:

• A distinct party appeal that addresses salient political issues.
• Sufficient human, financial, organizational and media resources.
• Strong mass appeal.
• The ability to take advantage of the electoral environment.

Judging objectively, it seems that the Grameen Party can easily overcome three of the four barriers.

The second criterion would take some time and effort.

The country's quandary at this time is multi-faceted, and too deeply entrenched because of decades of endemic corruption by politicians and public servants.

Lack of leadership, along with the persistent catering to the interests of family, friends, and party ahead of the country, has brought the present state of emergency which could be a means to sweep away the rubble of past wrongdoings in almost every sphere of governance.

The thought of a new party by Yunus was born out of these desperate predicaments.

Initial public infatuation with a new party is often looked upon with skepticism.

As a result, pledges made by the embryonic party aren't immediately taken seriously by the already cagey electorate.

Yunus's vision of a political party rooted in public service ideals may be seen, prima facie, to be like any other political party's -- except that Yunus is not like any other politician.

Yunus was born to be an academician. He was, for a while. But could anyone predict that he would be a Nobel laureate? Who are we to predict that he would not be the kind of leader the country truly needs?

It is inconceivable that any political party's failures would ever match BNP-Jamaat's record of misrule or AL's mismanaged governance.

If the existing political parties do not undergo significant structural reforms they will inevitably drift down to politics as usual.

As political scientists Todd Levergood and Thomas Breyfogle point out: "We must realize that our current crisis of self-interested bickering and anarchy derive neither from our own selfishness, nor from the dishonesty and incompetence of politicians, but rather from political institutions that are no longer able to restrain the worst within us."

Although the beneficiaries of his fledgling political party will be "the commoners," there are additional benefits that would accrue for the country's political process.

Princeton University economics professor William Baumal, author of "Contestable Market Theory (CMT)," argues that even if there is one seller of a product, that seller may be self-motivated enough to act as if there were many more.

The threat of potential entry of new firms (assuming entry is not cost prohibitive) may induce the single seller to keep the industry operating at, or close to, competitive prices and output, thus benefiting the consumers while making entry look unattractive to other firms.

I argue that CMT may also produce an analogous outcome in politics. The fear of being unseated from power may force the ruling party to govern with transparency, accountability and rule of law.

The last BNP-Jamaat alliance abandoned the path of transparency, accountability and rule of law, choosing instead to traverse the unholy path of corruption and sinister politicization to ensure their return to power.

Becoming a lawmaker should be the extent of Yunus's political aspirations.

However, I believe that he should be the chairperson of his party, and so remain as a guiding force and the country's visionary for his lifetime.

The emergence of a party with clean and competent people envisioned by Yunus will pose a formidable challenge to both AL and BNP.

"Politics as usual" may soon be history. Survival of the fittest will ensure competition for clean and competent candidates and political activists. In the process, they will, hopefully, fulfill their pledges of altruistic service to the people with the same spirit and commitment as the current caretaker government.

Once that happens, Nobel laureate Yunus will have achieved the goals all of us have envisioned for so long.

Dr. Abdullah A. Dewan is Professor of Economics at Eastern Michigan University.