The United States has termed the January 5 election flawed as it “failed to express” the will of the Bangladeshi people and feared that it could have “serious ramifications for stability” in the country and the region.
“Immediately after the election, we issued a strong statement noting that the election was not a credible reflection of the will of the people and called for immediate dialogue to agree on new election as soon as possible,” said Nisha D Biswal, the US assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs.
She made the remark yesterday at a testimony, the third of its kind in one year, before the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
Biswal said the US interest in holding new election was to ensure a “free and fair” process and that Washington “has not taken sides or played favourites” in who should lead the country.
“That decision should be left to the Bangladeshi people, whose voices were not fairly heard on January 5,” she said in her written testimony.
The US official said over half of the 300 lawmakers were elected unopposed, and most of the rest faced only token opposition. “The election did not credibly express the will of the Bangladeshi people. This could have serious ramifications for stability in Bangladesh and the region.”
Terming Bangladesh a development and economic success story, she said: “Bangladesh has come too far and has too much to lose.”
She also condemned the election-related violence strongly when over 100 people were killed. “We are also concerned by recent reports of continuing extrajudicial killings and disappearances allegedly committed by security forces.”
She urged the opposition not to resort to shutdowns. “While estimates vary, one source estimates the economic cost of the general strikes called by the opposition at approximately $200 million per day.”
Meanwhile, US Ambassador to Bangladesh Dan W Mozena said the relationship between the Bangladesh government and Washington would not be “business as usual.”
“She [Nisha Biswal] will underscore that the America’s interaction with the sitting government is not business as usual,” Mozena said after a meeting with BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia at her Gulshan office last night. Mozena was talking to reporters while Biswal was making the testimony.
The ambassador appraised Khaleda about the testimony and told reporters that they had discussed the strategies “for the leading opposition party [in Bangladesh] in the days and weeks and months ahead.”
When asked what would be the new chemistry between the government and the US, he said: “We will continue to engage with this government in support of all of our programmes that work directly with the people of Bangladesh. But regarding other programmes we will assess on a case by case basis.”
Regarding USAID’s decision to cut aid to Bangladesh parliament, Mozena said: “I think [we are] likely to end engagement with some of our programmes related to parliament.”
New USAID Mission Director Janina Jaruzelski on Monday said: “In light of what happened in the election, we are refocusing our democracy and governance programme. We, among other things, expect that we will be reducing assistance to parliament that assists directly to the members of parliament.”
During the testimony, Biswal said there had been some incremental progress in the readymade garment sector in last year as nearly 100 unions were registered, compared to one in each of the two years preceding. The government had completed over 200 structural soundness and 120 fire safety inspections, filled 42 vacant inspector positions and would recruit more, she said.
“However, there is still much to be done and Bangladesh still has not fulfilled the many commitments it made to improve working conditions.
“No action has been taken to bring Export Processing Zones into conformity with international standards, and concerns remain over harassment of labour activists and the investigation of the murder of Aminul Islam,” she said.
