Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen on Friday said that despite the one-point unconstitutional demand of some opposition parties, the government is firmly committed to conduct a free, fair and peaceful general election with people’s participation as per the constitution.
The government has ensured the full freedom of the Election Commission and provided with necessary where with alto conduct the upcoming elections, he said, while speaking at a reception he hosted for the foreign journalists who came to Dhaka to cover Sunday's general election.
The foreign secretary highlighted the measures the Election Commission had taken to ensure a free and fair election, such as biometric voter ID and transparent ballot boxes to make it foolproof in terms of eradicating the chance of electoral forgery that was once commonplace during the military, quasi-military and pseudo-military regime in the past.
He, however, reminded that Bangladesh is a young democracy.
"Bangladesh is a young nation. It is in the 52nd year of its journey as an independent country. Western democracy is yet to take its full shape here," he said, adding that: "Recently, cracks are being surfaced even in matured western democracies."
The foreign secretary said: "It has, therefore, been growingly felt that no political system is perfect and no democracy is matured in that sense.
"We, as a nation, however, are striving to achieve the global threshold in democratic practices," he said.
"We seeking support from our friends across the globe, including you, in our efforts. We hope that alongside our economic strides, we will also succeed in building a democratic society which our future generations will take pride in, Masud Bin Momen added.
The foreign secretary said people of this subcontinent have always been found historically and culturally to be more politically aware and engaged – in respect of both domestic, regional and global issues.
That is why turnout in polls in the subcontinent tends to be higher than the global average.
And the voters and supporters of the political parties let alone the activists get engaged in the electoral process very actively.
"This leads to intense competitions in the election which often turns violent. Casualties, even deaths are a common phenomenon in the election in our part of the world. Casualties occur more in local body elections where competitions extend neck-to-neck," Masud Bin Momen said.
“However, we are expecting the coming elections to be peaceful, keeping clashes as minimum as possible, as per the confidence and preparations of the law-enforcing agencies,” he added.
A cultural program also followed at the reception held at the state guesthouse Jamuna.
