State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam on Thursday said the government cannot take responsibility if any political party does not take part in the upcoming elections but expects that the polls will be held in a “free and fair” manner.
“We said it clearly that the elections will be free and fair. But we have no capacity as such to make sure that all political parties will join the elections,” he told reporters at a briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, noting that this is what he conveyed to US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Ruth Sherman during his recent meeting in the US.
Alam said who will or will not come in the elections depends on the decisions of those political parties or individuals.
The state minister said he also briefed her about the Election Commission formation, the search committee and president’s dialogue in which some political parties did not take part.
“You have seen how the Election Commission was formed and the president invited all the stakeholders. In this process some specific individuals or parties did not take part,” he added.
Asked if the election has the potential for acceptability, the state minister said polls in the past showed that, and certainly the next election will show the same.
During their meeting on October 7, the deputy secretary and state minister discussed the Bangladesh-US partnership, as the two countries commemorate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.
The deputy secretary reaffirmed the importance of promoting human rights and holding “free, fair, and peaceful” elections.
“From my position, I need to respond and that’s what I have done,” said the state minister.
Referring to the US sanctions imposed on the Rapid Action Battalion and its senior officials, the state minister urged the US government to withdraw the sanctions as soon as possible.
S Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Ruth Sherman reiterated continued collaboration with Bangladesh in its fight against terrorism and violent extremism.
Shahriar urged the US government to expedite the deportation of Bangabandhu's killer Rashed Chowdhury to Bangladesh mentioning that the issue was of utmost importance to the people of Bangladesh and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina herself.
He also emphasized the conclusion of an extradition treaty between Bangladesh and the US as early as possible.
He criticized BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir's remarks at a political rally in Chittagong.
Fakhrul said the US sanctioned the RAB, but the sanction should have been imposed on the Awami League government.
State Minister Alam later said it will be very unfortunate if he said this and it will be again a reflection of BNP’s desire that without depending on the country's people they are trying to use the foreign countries.
He said such remarks from Fakhrul are tantamount to sedition.
Responding to a question, Alam said Bangladesh remained very hospitable to the diplomats and hoped that the foreign diplomats would not misuse that gesture. “If they do, we need to think otherwise.”
He referred to James F Moriarty, the then-US ambassador, who sent the confidential cable on November 3, 2008, to Washington and WikiLeaks published it later portraying Tarique Rahman as a symbol of “kleptocratic government and violent politics” in Bangladesh and the US embassy in Dhaka even recommended blocking his entry into the United States.
The state minister said instead of calling for sanctions from the US on Bangladesh, Mirza Fakhrul should have first worked on removing the barrier on Tarique’s movement to the US.