The international community has urged the BNP to participate in the next national elections and the Awami League to find a way to hold the all-party polls in a free, fair and credible manner.
“The message that we have been sending to BNP is you should participate [in the elections],” said Canadian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Heather Cruden on Sunday at a discussion organised by the Diplomatic Correspondent Association of Bangladesh (DCAB).
“The message we have been sending to Awami League is that you need to find a mechanism that allows all parties to participate in a manner that people are getting some level of comfort about the independence of elections,” she said.
Cruden was responding to questions on the recent initiatives taken by “Friends of Bangladesh”, an informal group comprising several foreign diplomats, including those from Canada and Britain.
Asked if they had any suggestion for the government and the opposition, she said they had one as per the UN recommendations.
“There would be a small team that would be formed and there would be discussions in and out of parliament. You need to have a small negotiating team that comes up with a political solution.
“I think a political solution is possible. But what you need is a political will,” Cruden said.
The Canadian envoy said if a solution was found, amendments to the constitution could be made.
“I feel ultimately it is up to the government of the day and all the parties, who will determine the best mechanism to hold those elections.”
Cruden categorically said the political violence was not acceptable. She said the international community asked the government and the opposition party “to publicly reject the use of political violence.”
She said Canada was concerned that the combination of the Rana Plaza disaster and political unrest “could jeopardise Bangladesh’s economic and social development progress.”
She said buyers were getting nervous because of hartals and they were extremely nervous after the Rana Plaza incident. “The Rana Plaza tragedy was front page news [in Canada] for over three weeks.”
When asked about the Padma bridge scandal and the repatriation of Bangabandhu’s killer Noor Chowdhury from Canada, Cruden declined to make any comment.
The programme was attended by DCAB President Imran Alam and General Secretary Bashir Ahmed.