“De-stability will be disastrous”: Bangladesh FS Momen on general elections

Dhaka [Bangladesh]: Amid pre-poll violence in Bangladesh, Foreign Secretary, Masud Bin Momen on Saturday called for political stability in the country and warned that any de-stability will be disastrous for this huge population.

“Any de-stability will be disastrous for this huge population. Therefore, stability and democratic rule is a mandatory provision for our existence as a nation. Our constitution has very clear provisions for smooth democratic practices in the country. The National Election Commission a constitutional body to hold elections in the country is well in its business,” said Momen while addressing Election Observers from across the globe. Thanking them for coming to Bangladesh and attending the reception, he reiterated to observe free and fair elections.

“We seek support from our friends across the globe including you in our efforts. We hope that alongside our economic strides, we will also succeed in building a democratic society which our future generations will take pride in,” said Momen.

His address comes in the wake of arsonists attack on the intercity Benapole Express train in Gopibagh, which claimed the lives of four people.

The incident comes in the backdrop of January 7 general elections and amid calls from the main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) for a 48-hour nationwide ‘hartal’ (general strike) commencing on Saturday with demand of resignation from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s “illegal government.”

The Foreign Secretary said that Bangladesh is a young nation and is in the 52nd year of its journey as an independent country, adding that the nation is striving to achieve the global threshold in democratic practices.

“Western democracy is yet to take its full shape here. Recently, cracks are being surfaced even in matured western democracies. It has, therefore, been growingly felt that no political system is perfect and no democracy is matured in that sense,” he said.

He further expressed hope that the coming elections will be peaceful by keeping clashes as minimum as possible, as per the confidence and preparations of the law-enforcing agencies.
Momen also said that the turn out in polls in the subcontinent tends to be higher than the global average.

“People of this subcontinent have always been found historically and culturally to be more politically aware and engaged – in respect of both domestic, regional and global issues. Voters and supporters of the political parties, let alone the activists, get engaged in the electoral process very actively. This lead to intense competitions in the elections which often turns violent. Casualties, even deaths are a common phenomenon in the lections of our part of the world. Casualties occur more in local body elections where competitions extend to neck-to neck,” said Momen.

Notably, a total of 128 election observers have been accredited to observe the elections. Teams from 05 International election observing bodies have also arrived in Dhaka to observe the elections. Over 20,000 local election observers have also been accredited so far. A total of 76 foreign journalists have also been accredited to cover the elections, besides hundreds of local journalists.

The current election commission is the first election commission in the history of Bangladesh to be formed as per the relevant Act which is the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners Appointment Act, 2022.

“All the provisions of the Act has been duly complied in forming the current Commission. The Commission duly followed the election procedures starting from inviting all the registered political parties to preparatory dialogues for holding free and fair elections. They also strictly followed the relevant rules in scrutinizing the nomination papers and finalizing the candidates. They did their due diligence in ensuring compliance of electoral rules by the candidates. As of now, a total of 28 political parties are taking part in the elections, and the total number of candidates stands at 1970. The Election Commission encouraged all registered political parties to take part in the elections. However, a few registered political parties chose not to take part,” said Momen to Election observers.