Bangladesh has taken the US expectation to hold free, fair and participatory election into cognizance.


The US expectation was conveyed to Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque when he had a meeting with US State Department Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Alice G Wells at the foreign ministry on Sunday.
“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. “There is no opportunity to be involved in the process by any foreign power or country except they send election observers to monitor the polls.”
The foreign secretary said he doesn’t think ‘anyone should expect more from Bangladesh’.
He, however, 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 continues to welcome the ability of all groups in Bangladesh to participate fully in expressing their viewpoints and participate fully in the political process, whether that is to campaign, to hold peaceful rallies and meetings without intimidation or reprisal, she said.
“We certainly condemn anyone who would use violence as a tool in the political process.”
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.






According to the Constitution, election for the 11th parliament must be held within 90 days of the expiry of the 10th parliament. Accordingly, the next general election has to be held between Oct 30 and Jan 28.

The Election Commission has already said the schedule will be announced in the first week of November to hold the election at the end of December.