Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen today said the government did not interfere or intervene in any of the elections.
“These (elections) are free, fair and transparent. The major opposition did not contest officially, but unofficially had many of their candidates and many of them got elected too,” he said referring to the recently held Union Parishad elections.
He made the remarks while talking to foreign diplomats stationed in Dhaka at a regular briefing at the Padma State Guest House this morning.
He said that the government is committed to free, fair and transparent elections in the country, and the polls were inclusive and saw enthusiasm from the public.
Diplomats from different countries, including the US and other EU nations and representatives from the UN and World Bank, were present at the time.
At a media briefing later, Momen said Bangladesh’s participation in the COP26, Prime Minister’s visit to France, Rohingya issue, elections and medical treatment of BNP chief Khaleda Zia were some of the issues prominently featured at the event.
Talking about the polls, he said the only bad thing was that there were some fatalities, which happened “out of enthusiasm”.
“We don’t want a single fatality in any election but we don’t know how to ensure it,” Momen said, asking other political party leaders not to incite people.
Momen briefed the diplomats on Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s successful presentation of the causes of Bangladesh and climate vulnerable countries, calling for compensation from them under Loss and Damage.
PM Hasina had earlier asked the developed countries to fund the pledged USD 100 billion to the developing countries every year for adaptation and mitigation.
Momen said that he was happy that the UN agreed to get involved in the humanitarian activities at Bhasan Char where some 19,000 Rohingyas have been relocated from Cox’s Bazar.
Momen also thanked all the diplomats for supporting the recent UN resolution on Rohingyas which addresses the root causes of the Rohingya crisis and their repatriation.
