Demand for fresh polls internal issue
In a major policy shift, the United States has described the demand for political dialogue to hold a fresh election in Bangladesh as an "internal issue" that needs to be solved by political parties.
"I think that [fresh election] is an internal issue which the political parties of Bangladesh and the people of Bangladesh will need to resolve… they'll resolve that at some point," said US Ambassador Dan Mozena at a diplomatic talk in the capital yesterday.
Mozena called for fresh polls in Bangladesh by May or June during a diplomatic briefing at the foreign ministry less than two weeks after the January 5 polls boycotted by the BNP and its allies.
Diplomatic sources in Dhaka said this was somewhat unusual for the US envoy as he had always been strongly voicing his desire for political dialogue and fresh polls.
Soon after the January 5 elections, the US termed the polls “deeply flawed” and called for dialogue as soon as possible to agree on new elections that are free, fair, peaceful, and credible, reflecting the will of Bangladeshi people.
Mozena came up with his new stance when his attention was drawn to BNP's demand for a fresh election and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's latest stance on dialogue with BNP. The PM ruled out the possibility of any dialogue and fresh election.
The US envoy, however, said Bangladesh's foreign friends will be there to help the country once the political parties resolve the issue. "When they do it, friends of Bangladesh will stand by it to help in whatever way it can be."
At the diplomatic talk, Mozena termed “all trash” recent reports that the US intelligence was backing a move to install a “government of consensus” by ousting the Hasina-led government.
The ambassador, who just completed his mission visiting all the 64 districts recently, said during his conversation with people across the country, he focused on Bangladesh's development and economic growth.
"Our conversations were focused on development, economic growth and contribution towards building Bangladesh Asian tiger. We talked about healthcare situation," Mozena said.
Diplomatic Correspondents Association, Bangladesh (DCAB) organised the “DCAB Talk” chaired by its President Mainul Alam at the Jatiya Press Club.
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