The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, and the US secretary of state,
John Kerry, on Wednesday phoned the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, and
welcomed the dialogue going on between the ruling and the opposition
party to resolve the current political crisis over a polls-time
government.
The prime minister’s press secretary Abul Kalam Azad and media adviser
Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury briefed reporters on the conversations.
Abul Kalam said that Ban had phoned Hasina in the afternoon and thanked
her for extending all-out cooperation to his special emissary Oscar
Fernández Taranco during his stay in Bangladesh.
He said that Ban had also condemned the ongoing violence in Bangladesh
and hoped that such violent activities would be stopped immediately.
Azad said that Ban had told Hasina that the next parliamentary elections
in Bangladesh would be held in accordance with its constitution but a
level playing field would need to be created.
‘I hope that the elections will be held as per the constitution and
democracy in Bangladesh will get strengthened further,’ Azad quoted Ban
as saying.
Ban also expressed hopes about the ongoing dialogue between the ruling
and the opposition party and said that the dialogue should continue in
the future.
Kerry phoned Hasina about 7:30am and expressed concern about the continuing violence and loss of lives and public property.
He also welcomed the dialogue between the ruling and the opposition
party, which began on Tuesday under the mediation of the United Nations.
Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury said that Kerry had wanted to know of the trial procedure of the International Crimes Tribunal.
The prime minister told him that there was freedom of the judiciary and all trial procedures followed the judicial process.
Kelly McCarthy, spokesman of the US embassy in Dhaka, said that Kerry
had phoned Hasina and talked about the current political events in
Bangladesh.
Earlier on September 9, Kerry conveyed his concerns about the Bangladesh
situation as the country was headed towards a violent political
face-off because of a disagreement between the two major political camps
over an election-time government.
He wrote letters to Hasina and the leader of the opposition in the
parliament, Khaleda Zia, also the BNP chairperson, expressing the United
States’ concerns about the political crisis in Bangladesh and urged a
constructive dialogue to resolve the crisis.
A statement of the US embassy in Dhaka on Wednesday, meanwhile, said
that Washington felt encouraged by recent initiatives to engage the
parties in dialogue and believed that with goodwill, the two parties
would find a way to hold the elections that the Bangladeshis wanted and
deserved.
The statement said that Washington believed that it was now more urgent
than ever for both the major parties to find a way forward to hold
peaceful, free, and fair elections that could be credible to Bangladeshi
people.
As the US assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian
Affairs, Nisha Desai Biswal, on November 16 made clear during her visit
to Bangladesh, ‘We believe unequivocally that violence can never be part
of the democratic process, is not acceptable, and must stop
immediately.’
The statement said that the senseless violence of past days was
especially reprehensible as innocent people, including young children,
had fallen victim to arson and bombs.
It called on all responsible to immediately end the violence and allow
the Bangladeshi people to go about their daily activities without fear
and insecurity.
‘We believe all parties should have space to freely and peacefully
express their views. The government bears responsibility to provide such
space; the opposition parties bear responsibility to use such space in a
peaceful manner.’
Australia, meanwhile, expressed concern about the execution of Jamaat leader Abdul Quader Molla.
Australia noted the concern recently expressed by the United Nations
special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers and by the
special rapporteur on summary executions regarding the lack of
opportunity for appeal or review of the sentence.
In a statement, Australia called on Bangladesh to address these concerns before taking the judicial process further.
It said that consistent with Australia’s universal opposition to the
death penalty, Australia also called on Bangladesh to establish a
moratorium on the death penalty. (source)