‘No need of UN assistance for national election’

Staff Reporter :
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. A.K. Abdul Momen has stated that there is no need of the United Nations’ assistance for the upcoming parliamentary polls.
However, he also mentioned that the government has no objection to having foreign observers for the elections.
“There is no need for any cooperation from the United Nations because Bangladesh is mature enough to conduct its own elections. The country has already established sufficient and acceptable institutions for conducting free, fair, and credible elections,” he said after holding a meeting with UN Residence Coordinator in Bangladesh Gwyn Lewis in Foreign Ministry on Monday.
“We have no objection regarding the observers for the election. Although many developed countries do not accept these observers, we do not have any problem taking them. We welcome them to come and see how the election is held in a beautiful and joyful environment here. The elections in these countries do not hold in such a joyful environment,” he said this while talking to the journalists in his ministry on Monday.
The Foreign Minister mentioned that foreign observers can learn from observing the elections in Bangladesh. He urged them to come and observe, and learn from the experience.
In reply to a query whether Bangladesh would seek any cooperation from the United Nations in the parliamentary elections, Momem made it clear that Bangladesh does not seek any cooperation from the organization for the elections.
Momen said, “We have prepared a transparent voter list. We have created a biometric voter list so that there is no fraud or false voting. We have created a powerful Election Commission that has enough capabilities. Therefore, we do not need anyone else’s help”.
In reply to another query about the arrest of Shamsuzzaman Shams, a journalist of the Prothom Alo, Foreign Minister said that the journalist was arrested under “child abuse and exploitation”, not as a journalist.
“Based on our information, he has been arrested for child abuse and exploitation,” Momen claimed.
When he was again asked how the Foreign Ministry can be sure of such claim, he said, “We have seen the photos, haven’t you”?
The minister also said that the child abusers are also punished as per the law of the land.
The ministry on Saturday issued a press statement, saying “It has been brought to the notice of the Government of Bangladesh that few international media and institutions are claiming that a journalist in Bangladesh, named as Shamsuzzaman, has been arrested as he wrote about ‘cost of living in Bangladesh’. This information is totally false and fabricated. This journalist was arrested because of ‘child abuse’ and ‘child exploitation”.