Free and fair polls are not possible under the current government, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) told the visiting US pre-election observation team today.
"We have told them that fair elections are not possible under Sheikh Hasina. The situation has not improved but has worsened. In the last few elections, they have taken away people's right to vote. Vote stealing has increased, so has repression," BNP Standing Committee Member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury told reporters following the meeting at the party chief's political office in Gulshan on Monday (9 October).
"Elections Bangladesh have not only become questionable in the country but also to the world. Just as the people of the country want a fair election, the world also wants a fair election. There is no atmosphere for a fair election in the country. The European Union said so as well. They said they would not send observers to the election. Now this US delegation has come to work on the same issue," he added.
The BNP leader also said, "Vote stealing has been institutionalised."
In response to a question, Amir Khosru said that the people of the country will not be able to vote if elections are held under this government.
"There is no doubt about it. What is the world saying? Fair elections of international standards are not possible under this government, that is why they are asking questions about this election process," he added.
Responding to another question, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said, "They have come for observation, as did the European Union delegation. They will talk to the people of the country and decide whether to send an observer or not."
BNP's meeting with the US delegation started at 10:20am at the political office of the BNP chairperson's Gulshan office on Monday (9 October).
The BNP delegation was led by the party's general secretary Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
BNP standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan, Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, BNP chairperson's advisor Ismail Zabiullah, Organising Secretary Shama Obaid, Human Rights Secretary Advocate Asaduzzaman Asad were present at the meeting.
A joint International Republican Institute (IRI) and National Democratic Institute (NDI) mission arrived in Bangladesh on 8 October to assess the pre-election situation in Bangladesh.
From 8 to 12 October, the six-member delegation will meet with a diverse group of election stakeholders, including government officials, political party leaders, election authorities, civil society, and others.
The NDI and IRI are nonpartisan, nongovernmental organisations which support and strengthen democratic institutions and practices worldwide. The organisations have collectively observed more than 200 elections in more than 50 countries over the last 30 years.
The delegation is co-chaired by Inderfurth and Bonnie Glick, former Deputy USAID Administrator; and includes Maria Chin Abdullah, former Member of the House of Representatives, Malaysia; Jamil Jaffer, former Associate Counsel to the President of the United States; Manpreet Singh Anand, NDI Regional Director for Asia-Pacific; and Johanna Kao, IRI Senior Director, Asia-Pacific Division.