Dhaka, Oct 21 (Just News): The United States wants a free, fair and participatory election in Bangladesh, said US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells on Sunday.
The US expectation was conveyed to Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque when he had a meeting with Alice Wells at the foreign ministry.
“They (the US) expect that the election will be free, fair and participatory. We took note of it and we also expect it will happen,” Haque told the media after the meeting.
The election is part of the political process of a country and people and political leaders have the major stake in it, he said.
Foreign Secretary said that the US officials did not say anything about sending election observers. “We had very little talk about the election.”
Meanwhile, the election issue was discussed when US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the sideline of UN General Assembly in New York on Sept 28.
Pompeo asked the prime minister about her feeling about the election and how people in the country enthusiastic about a participatory election.
Meanwhile, Wells at a press conference in Washington on Aug 20 said the US certainly always encourages the government of Bangladesh to fulfil its commitment to hold fair and credible elections that are contested and reflect the will of the Bangladeshi people.
“I think we saw the student protests recently, which really are sort of the purest manifestation of democracy, where something happens, and citizens’ rally and the government responds to effect reform,” she said.
The US message is that the stronger and healthier Bangladesh’s democratic structures are, the more appealing the country is to American investors and the more scope we have to be able to deepen our partnership, which is very much our goal, she added.
