Hold dialogue for free, fair election
Mozena urges political parties
US Ambassador in Bangladesh Dan Mozena yesterday laid stress on constructive and meaningful dialogue among political parties so that they could agree to a mechanism for holding a free, fair, credible and participatory election.
“There must be an agreement among political parties how the election will be held. There must be a mechanism. There must be a meaningful dialogue”, he said, speaking at a discussion on "US Policy towards Bangladesh" at Hotel Lakeshore in the capital.
“Having lived in Bangladesh before, I genuinely believe this country must opt for democracy. This country has thousand of years' culture, so undemocratic experiment would not be successful in this country”, he observed.
Laying importance on reaching an understanding to prepare ground rules for election, he said, “I believe there will be an agreement. Now the question is when the agreement will be? Will it be next week, will it be next month, I don't know. The sooner the political parties reach an agreement on ground rules, the better it is”.
Asked about caretaker government, he said he had no thought or position about caretaker government system. “We believe major parties find ways or plan or mechanism, whatever you mean, to hold a free, fair, credible and participatory election.”
The discussion was organised by Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS). BIPSS President Maj Gen ANM Muniruzzaman (retd) moderated the programme.
Ilias Ali and Aminul Islam
On the issues of killing, disappearances and violation of human rights, Mozena said the US secretary of state during her visit raised the issue of missing BNP leader Ilias Ali and killing of labour leader Aminul Islam. It is the duty of the government to ensure security of its citizens and resolve the issues through independent investigation, he said. About the death of garment workers' leader Aminul Islam, he said it was not much in discussion in Bangladesh but there was a sharp reaction in the US and Europe. He said Hillary Clinton had informed the Bangladesh side that US-based labour organisation NFL-CIO filed a petition asking to suspend GSP benefit for Bangladesh. US buyers are very concerned over labour situation in Bangladesh, he said, adding that three nights ago he received a phone call from a CEO of a big US company at midnight, and he (CEO) was worried about the growing negative publicity about Bangladesh in the US. Similarly two days ago, six Bangladeshis working for US buyers met him and told him that their headquarters were not happy over the labour situation in Bangladesh, he added. TICFA
Mozena said the Trade and Investment Cooperation Framework Agreement (TICFA) was a simple agreement and now the dispute came down to one single issue--labour standard. “I hope it will end successfully”. Justifying the importance of signing the deal, he said it would establish a platform to get together to find out the obstacles for trade and investment. Delay in signing the agreement will give a negative signal about Dhaka as the world might feel that Bangladesh is deviating from its commitment to establish international labour standard, he added.
On the issues of killing, disappearances and violation of human rights, Mozena said the US secretary of state during her visit raised the issue of missing BNP leader Ilias Ali and killing of labour leader Aminul Islam. It is the duty of the government to ensure security of its citizens and resolve the issues through independent investigation, he said. About the death of garment workers' leader Aminul Islam, he said it was not much in discussion in Bangladesh but there was a sharp reaction in the US and Europe. He said Hillary Clinton had informed the Bangladesh side that US-based labour organisation NFL-CIO filed a petition asking to suspend GSP benefit for Bangladesh. US buyers are very concerned over labour situation in Bangladesh, he said, adding that three nights ago he received a phone call from a CEO of a big US company at midnight, and he (CEO) was worried about the growing negative publicity about Bangladesh in the US. Similarly two days ago, six Bangladeshis working for US buyers met him and told him that their headquarters were not happy over the labour situation in Bangladesh, he added. TICFA
Mozena said the Trade and Investment Cooperation Framework Agreement (TICFA) was a simple agreement and now the dispute came down to one single issue--labour standard. “I hope it will end successfully”. Justifying the importance of signing the deal, he said it would establish a platform to get together to find out the obstacles for trade and investment. Delay in signing the agreement will give a negative signal about Dhaka as the world might feel that Bangladesh is deviating from its commitment to establish international labour standard, he added.
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