Foreign Minister Dipu Moni has said in the US that the ‘independent’ Election Commission under the elected government will hold the next general election.
Speaking at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington on Thursday, she said her government would do so to honour its “commitment to strengthen democracy”.
“…there is no room for unconstitutional processes and claimants to undermine Bangladesh’s democratic national order,” she said during her speech on Bangladesh at the Washington-based foreign policy think-tank.
Moni criticised ‘so called civil society’ for adding to the BNP’s demand of caretaker government during election time.
She said the civil society was comprised of “failed and ambitious politicians, former advisers (to) the various unlawful caretaker governments, unelectable aspirants to state power, and self proclaimed guardians of the people who wish to exercise authority without electability”.
The minister said her government was committed ‘to safeguard people’s right to vote’ and protect the country from any unelected aspirant which she said an unelected caretaker government would constitute.
She said the “Election Commission is entrusted, under the Constitution, to conduct the election of public representatives”.
“In a marked distinction with the past, the Election Commission has been empowered to function independently from the Executive Branch of Government, having been given its own budget, its own Secretariat and formed through a process of appointments made by the President, rather than by the Government,” she said.
Carnegie Endowment’s President Jessica Mathews, representatives of the US government, think-tank, media, civil society and diplomats were present during her speech, said a foreign ministry media release.
She stressed that Bangladesh had come a long way on its path to democracy and “allowing any kind of unconstitutional means would only jeopardize the achievements by opening windows for unelected aspirants to take over the state power”.
The foreign ministry says her speech focused on the socio-economic and political achievements of Bangladesh and its recurring effects on the peace and security of the entire region.
After the speech, she took questions from the audience which included government’s steps to ensure worker safety, post-GSP suspension issues, the arrest of Odhikar Secretary Adilur Rahman and Bangladesh’s unresolved issues with India.
Source: Bd news24
