Next national polls will be free and fair, PM tells US official

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today said the next parliamentary election will be fair and free as she is committed to democracy and the Election Commission is completely independent.

"The next election will be fair and free. I fought for democracy throughout my life," she said when a US delegation led by Counselor of the US Department of State, Derek Chollet, paid a courtesy call on her at the Gono Bhaban.

PM's speechwriter Md Nazrul Islam briefed reporters after the meeting.

Hasina said if the people vote for Awami League in the next general election, her party will take charge of governing the country.

"I never want to come to power through vote-rigging," she was quoted as saying.

The PM said she always struggled for the people's rights to food and vote.

She said the first ever EC reconstitution law was passed in parliament and then a neutral Election Commission was constituted on the basis of the law.

The EC has administrative and financial independence, she added.

Bangladesh is due to elect its next parliament by end of this year or the first week of January next year.

The last parliamentary election was held on December 30, 2018.