Meeting with BNP
EU presses for dialogue
The visiting European Union delegation yesterday called upon the government and the opposition to immediately sit in a dialogue to find a solution to the crisis over the polls-time government.
“We really think this is the time to sit for a dialogue,” EU Ambassador to Bangladesh William Hanna told journalists after a meeting between BNP leaders and the Election Exploratory Mission of the EU.
“We have called on the government and the opposition to engage to resolve the present crisis over holding the election,” said Hanna, who accompanied the EU delegation at the meeting at the BNP chairperson’s Gulshan office in the capital.
The five-member EU mission, which arrived in Dhaka on September 7 for a two-week visit, has already met with the Awami League and the Jatiya Party and will meet with the Election Commission today.
During its talks with the AL and the JP, the team stressed the need for a dialogue.
BNP Standing Committee Member MK Anwar, who led the nine-member team of the party at the meeting, said the party had informed the EU delegation that the election would not be free and fair if it was held under the present constitutional provisions.
That will be because, according to the constitutional provisions, the prime minister will remain head of the government and parliament will not be dissolved, he told journalists.
MK Anwar added: “In that case, instead of the previous caretaker government system, we have just wanted a non-party administration to oversee the polls.”
He said a dialogue could take place to discuss the criteria, quality and tenure of the polls-time government. “We are very eager to sit in a dialogue.”
Replying to a query, William Hanna said the EU thought the election should be transparent and credible with the participation of all political parties.
Also yesterday, the EU team discussed with the foreign secretary various technical aspects of the EU’s Election Observation Mission.
After the meeting, Hanna told reporters that the visiting mission was in Dhaka to assess the feasibility and usefulness of the Election Observation Mission.
Meeting sources said the EU delegation discussed with Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque arrangements for the election observation mission and the role of the Election Commission, among other things.
-With The Daily Star input
