Alongside hectic activities of the political parties, frequent movement of diplomats and representatives from different international organisations in Dhaka recently time seem to have given a momentum to the National parliament election well ahead its scheduled time.
A delegation of the European Union now has been staying in Dhaka on a 16-day visit while another delegation of the United States already left Dhaka on Friday at the end of a two-day visit.
Besides, ambassador to Canada, China, Japan, India, France and other diplomats have held a series of meetings with ruling Awami League, Jatiya Party, the main opposition in the National Parliament, BNP, one of the major opposition parties, and other political plat forms in recently.
All of them are talking about the next 12th National Parliamentary election, which is scheduled to be held in the last week of the month of December or on the first week of the month of January in 2024.
They want a free, fair and peaceful election in Bangladesh through a democratic process.
But, BNP and its allies, including Jamaat-e-Islami want the ouster of the present government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and formation of a caretaker government, which is unconstitutional and rejected by the Supreme Court. The Jatiya Party. On the other hand, is in favour of political dialogue.
The visiting delegation of the Election Exploratory Mission from the European Union arrived in Dhaka on July 9, the six-member team already held a series since of meetings since their arrival. They held a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, different ministers, officials from different ministries, law-enforcement agencies and several other state bodies and different political parties.
The EU team so far held four separate meetings with the leaders of the ruling Awami League, including Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, also the president of the ruling Awami League.
The team on Saturday also hold separate meetings with Awami League, BNP, Jatiya Party and Jamaat-e-Islami.
The EU delegation is also scheduled to held many more meetings with other political parties, personnel from the civil society, journalists and other people relevant to its Bangladesh visit.
Earlier on Tuesday, the EU delegation held separate meetings with the high officials of the Election Commission (EC), Attorney General AM Amin Uddin, Bangladesh Election Monitoring Forum (EMF), Foreign Affairs Minister AK Abdul Momen, ruling Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader, National Human Rights Commission, high officials of the Bangladesh Police, International Affairs sub-committee of the ruling Awami League.
The six-member EU delegation led by Chelleri Riccardo began their activities in Dhaka on Sunday. On the first day of their 16-day visit at the invitation of the Election Commission, the EU held internal meetings at the office of the European Union in the city, joined by several foreign diplomats, according to officials concerned.
The visiting EU delegation is trying to know whether there was any risk of violence during the election in Bangladesh.
The six-strong Election Exploratory Mission from the EU is visiting Bangladesh to conduct a feasibility study on the prospects of a free, fair, and participatory election and check if it would be possible to send election observers for the upcoming election.
The mission will evaluate the periphery of work, planning, budget, logistics, and security of the key election observer mission during its visit from July 8 to July 23.
The EU mission will submit its report to Josep Borrell, the EU's high representative for foreign affairs, as Charles Whiteley, the EU ambassador to Bangladesh, said earlier.
Based on the report, Borrell will make a decision on sending election observers to Bangladesh.
Besides, led by the US Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights, Uzra Zeya, the US delegation team already left Dhaka completing its two-day visit to Bangladesh. During its visit, the US team also held several meetings, including a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. She visited the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar.
Before departure, Uzra Zeya expressed her happiness with the not-violent political atmosphere in Bangladesh.
Referring rallies of two major parties—Awami League and BNP—she mentioned that no incidence of violence was reported to her.
In an interview with a news agency, she also urged the political parties in Bangladesh to reject violence and support a genuinely peaceful democratic process that allows the people of Bangladesh to choose their own leaders.
“Well, I think one message I would underscore is urging all parties to reject violence, and to support a genuinely inclusive, peaceful, free and fair democratic process. Let's let the people of Bangladesh decide,” she said.
Zeya made it clear that the United States’ objective is to support elections in Bangladesh that are “free, fair and peaceful.”
On the other hand, she said the question of potentially a caretaker government, or a boycott, these are “internal matters” for the people of Bangladesh. “We don't see a role for the United States. And I just want to underscore the final point that we do not take sides between political parties.”
During her meetings in Dhaka, US Under Secretary Zeya emphasized the importance of working together to achieve Bangladesh’s goal of free and fair elections; the crucial role of civil society, human rights defenders, journalists, and labor activists; accountability for human rights abuses; and the need to continue support for Rohingya refugees.
