The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, on Sunday expressed the hope that the
opposition would join the next elections and the people would exercise
their voting rights.
‘The next elections would be free, fair and credible and I hope that the
opposition would participate in the polls and the people would freely
exercise their voting rights,’ she said.
The prime minister expressed this hope when visiting US assistant
secretary of state for South and Central Asian Affairs Nisha Desai
Biswal called on her at her official Ganobhaban residence in Dhaka in
the afternoon.
After the hour-long meeting, PM’s deputy press secretary Bijan Lal Dev briefed reporters.
The prime minister said her government has been working relentlessly to
further strengthen democracy. ‘We want to further strengthen democracy
and our stride has been reflected in all the elections held during the
last five years of our tenure,‘ she said.
Sheikh Hasina mentioned that 5,828 elections were held at different
tiers in the last five years and 64,060 public representatives were
elected through the polls. All the elections were held in a free, fair
and neutral manner, and none could raise any allegation about the
results, she said.
The prime minister said the all democratic institutions including
Election Commission, the National Human Rights Commission and
Information Commission are absolutely independent, while media is
enjoying full freedom.
‘A voter list with photograph has been prepared. So, there is no scope for vote rigging,’ she said.
The prime minister said the EC is now very much capable of holding any
elections and its capability has been proved in the last five years.
Stressing the need for maintaining democratic process, Sheikh Hasina said development would not be sustained without democracy.
About the suspension of the Genralised System of Preference facilities
by the US government, the prime minister said the decision has affected a
lot the downtrodden people of Bangladesh.
‘The decision is giving punishment to the poor workers,’ she added.
Sheikh Hasina urged the US government to pursue its business community
to hike the prices of Bangladeshi garment products. ‘It would help
facilitate the Bangladeshi garment owners to increase wages,‘ she said.
Mentioning the raising of the wages for the garment workers to Tk 5300
from 1600 in the last five years, she said: ‘Our party, politics and
ideology are for the downtrodden and we are striving to improve the
condition of poor people.’
Pointing out the much-talked TICFA agreement with the USA, the prime
minister said the deal has already been okayed. A delegation from
Bangladesh would visit the USA soon to this end, she said.
Laying importance on regional cooperation, the prime minister said her
government has been trying to strengthen regional relationship to ensure
welfare of the people.
The US assistant secretary of state expressed the hope that free, fair
and credible elections would be held in Bangladesh to continue
democratic process.
She said Bangladesh is a very important country in the region for mutual
prosperity and security, saying that the US-Bangladesh partnership is
extraordinarily strong and productive. (source)