Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told visiting UN Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Oscar Fernández Taranco that deferring the election schedule is the jurisdiction of the Election Commission.
Sheikh Hasina said this when Taranco told her during their one-to-one parley at Ganobhaban whether the January-5 election could be deferred.
Prime Minister’s International Affairs Adviser Gowher Rizvi briefed reporters after the meeting.
The hour-long tete-e-tete between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and UN Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Oscar Fernández Taranco began at 4:50 pm and ended at 5:50 pm.
Earlier, he held 40-minute talks with the Prime Minister and other officials at the Prime Minister’s official residence Ganobhaban from 4:10 pm.
Taranco, who arrived here on Friday evening amid the country’s murky political situation that has cast a shadow on its January-5 general election, started his Bangladesh mission by meeting with Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque Foreign Minister AH Mahmud Ali today.
The UN envoy met Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque at 10 am and Foreign Minister AH Mahmud Ali at 10:30am at the Foreign Ministry.
His visit is aimed at encouraging ‘dialogue and conditions’ conducive to parliamentary elections scheduled for January 5, said a statement issued by UN Resident Coordinator in Dhaka, Neal Walker.
He will meet BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia at her Gulshan residence at 7pm on Saturday.
Source: UNBConnect
