M Mushfiqul Fazal, State Department
The United States is monitoring how Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will work to fulfill her commitment to ensure genuine, transparent, and peaceful general elections.
The US Department of State spokesperson Ned Price on Friday made the remark at a special briefing on US’s foreign policy while replying to a query about Bangladesh’s next general elections.
Emphasizing on arranging a genuine electoral process by the Bangladesh government ahead of the next election, Ned Price in the briefing said, “Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said that she and her government want free and fair parliamentary elections. We welcome those words, but most importantly, we are going to be watching to make sure that those words are ultimately matched with corresponding actions.”
Pointing at two previous 2014 and 2018 elections, which were marred by irregularities, rigging and intimidation, State Department correspondent M Mushfiqul Fazal asked, “On U.S. policy on Bangladesh, as you are urging for free, fair, and credible election and call for Bangladesh – for respect the fundamental rights for a long time. But the country’s scenario is different. They are not listening. A few days ago the foreign minister and deputy state minister organized an open meeting. They invited all ambassadors, including U.S. ambassador. They’re giving lectures on how the U.S. – the election process is – they are questioning about the U.S. election and they are telling that human rights abuse is higher than Bangladesh in here. But they are not listening to the U.S. And we experienced two farcical elections, 2014 and 2018, and we saw the strong position in the U.S., but– the regime is in power more than a decade. So what would be the U.S. role if the country’s going like this and they are not willing to go for any neutral election under a caretaker government?”
Mentioning that the US is observing Bangladesh’s situation centering the next general election, the State Department spokesperson said, “Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said that she and her government want free and fair parliamentary elections. We welcome those words, but most importantly, we are going to be watching to make sure that those words are ultimately matched with corresponding actions.”
He further said, “We look forward to better understanding how the government will work to ensure that these elections are carried out the way they should be. That is in a manner that is genuine, transparent, and peaceful. The next parliamentary elections are still some time away, but we support constructive actions Bangladesh can take ahead of the polls to carry out a genuine electoral process.”
Expressing the country’s concern about intimidation of politicians and opposition party members, the State Department spokesperson said, “We’re of course concerned every time anywhere we hear of violence, of harassment, of intimidation of politicians, of independent voices, of opposition party members – that of course is the case in Bangladesh. When we see it and when we have seen it in Bangladesh, we have had private conversations with the government to register our concerns.”
He said, “Our ambassador in Bangladesh is doing an extraordinary job not only representing the United States, but also standing up for the values that are really at the core of our approach to foreign policy, to human rights, to democracy, to a vision that is free and open. And that’s something that he will continue to do.”
MN/
