The European Parliament passed a resolution on Thursday, expressing deep concern over recent violence and urging calm in the run-up to elections in Bangladesh. “MEPs (Members of European Parliament) call on all groups and individuals to exercise tolerance and restraint, especially in the lead-up to, during, and after the elections,” said a European Parliament press release quoting from the text of the resolution. “The Bangladesh Election Commission should organise and oversee the next general elections in a fully transparent manner, and the political parties should refrain from any violence during the electoral process,” it said.
According to the resolution, the European Parliament expressed its serious concern over the continuing paralysis of everyday life in Bangladesh as a result of general strikes organised by the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami opposition and the confrontation between the two political camps in the run-up to the presidential elections.
The Parliament regretted the fact that the Bangladeshi parliament did not manage to achieve an all-party consensus for the exercise of power by the government in the pre-election period, bearing in mind that most democracies manage this phase without a caretaker government, and urgently called on the Bangladeshi government and the opposition to put Bangladesh’s best interests first and to find a compromise which would give the Bangladeshi people a chance to express their democratic will.
It called on all parties not to boycott the elections, as this would deprive citizens of a political choice and undermine Bangladesh’s social and economic stability and its impressive development progress, notably on the MDGs, disaster management, labour rights and the empowerment of women.
The European Parliament called upon the Bangladesh Election Commission to organise and oversee the next general elections in a fully transparent manner, supporting the recognition of new political parties that intend to participate in the next general elections and meet reasonable criteria for political participation and representation.
All the political parties have been urged to refrain from any violence or instigation of violence during the electoral process and to prevent a repetition of the politically motivated violent clashes that occurred in the first half of 2013.
The Parliament expressed its serious concerns, in this connection, about the recent flare-up of politically motivated violence that left dozens of people dead at the end of October 2013.
The government has been urged to restore the enabling environment for civil society organisations, including human rights defenders, which has contributed much to Bangladesh’s development, so that they can carry out their activities freely.
-With The Independent input
