BD polls weren’t free and fair, US reiterates
Special Correspondent :
The United States did not find the January 7 12th parliamentary polls in Bangladesh to be free and fair.
Apart from it, the US also urged the Bangladesh government to ensure a fair and transparent legal process for all of the arrested individuals.
US Department of State Spokesperson Mathew Miller came up with the remarks while responding to a journalist at a regular press briefing at Washington DC on Tuesday.
A journalist mentioned that theHuman Rights Commission called for the immediate release of detained political activities – activists in Bangladesh and that the present regime arrested over 25,000 opposition members, including top opposition leaders, BNP leaders, to manipulate the January 7th ‘sham election’.
The journalist wanted to know what steps the US was taking against the authoritarian regime for undermining democracy given the pre-election visa restriction policy.
Mathew Miller reiterated his country’s concerns about the elections that they did not find it to be free and fair, and regarding the arrest of thousands of political opposition members in the run-up to the elections.
“I will say two things. One, we urge the Bangladeshi Government to ensure a fair and transparent legal process for all of the arrested individuals. We also urge the Bangladeshi Government to allow opposition members and media professionals, civil society representatives, to participate meaningfully in the country’s democratic process and civic life, and we will continue to engage with the Bangladeshi Government to advance that point of view,” he added.
The journalist drew the spokesperson’s attention to a Wall Street Journal report that India has been included in a Canadian inquiry on election interference, aligning with China and Russia.
He noted that India’s involvement had surfaced in a similar way in the elections of Bangladesh to keep Sheikh Hasina in power, while the foreign minister asserted India’s support in the ruling party’s election victory, ‘similar to 2014 and 2018 one-sided elections.’
Against such a backdrop, the journalist sought to know about the US stance on the critics’ allegation that the US is pushing back from its democracy promotion strategy in Bangladesh due to Indian influence.
Mathew Miller declined to comment on the Canadian inquiry as it is a matter for Canada to speak to.
Regarding the US stance on Bangladesh, he said, “Democracy – as we have said number of times as it pertains to Bangladesh and others – advances peace, prosperity, and security.
It is at the center of the US foreign policy and we continue to engage with the Bangladeshi government to advance democratic principles, which are key to ensuring peace and prosperity for all Bangladeshis.”
