The visiting US pre-election assessment mission has inquired to law minister Anisul Huq if there is any concern about which party will join the upcoming national election and which will not.
The law minister replied that the government wants every party to take part in the election but it solely is the decision of the parties concerned.
The law minister said this while briefing the newsmen about his meeting with the US mission today, Wednesday. The US mission held a meeting with the law minister at the secretariat in the afternoon.
The law minister said, “They asked if there is any concern about which party will join the polls and which not. I told them that the government under prime minister Sheikh Hasina wants every party to participate in the polls. But the decision of joining polls or not depends on the parties concerned.”
The minister said the issue of caretaker government did not come up during the meeting and the US mission did not also mention anything on dialogue among political parties.
Anisul Huq said issues such as holding a free, fair and peaceful election, and Cyber Security Act were discussed during the meeting. The mission has been told that the Sheikh Hasina government is committed to holding a free, neutral and peaceful election.
The minister mentioned different government initiatives including making a law about recruitment of chief election commissioner and other commissioners.
Replying to a question, the law minister said the US mission’s main question was where is the difference between the Digital Security Act and Cyber Security Act which he replied clearly.
The US mission also asked about the judiciary of the country, he said, adding that the mission did not give any suggestion.
The US delegation arrived in Bangladesh on Sunday to follow electoral preparations and conduct an impartial assessment about sending a full-fledged election observation team in the upcoming general election.
The mission is a joint team of members from the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI) of the US.The US mission has been holding a series of meetings with different stakeholders.
The team today held a meeting with home minister Asaduzzaman Khan in the secretariat and later with the law minister.
The pre-election assessment mission, however, did not share anything on the meetings.
