BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia shared her ideas with the US Ambassador to Dhaka Dan W Mozena on how she intends to lead Bangladesh if the opposition coalition is voted to power in the next national elections.After having a meeting the BNP chairperson at her Gulshan office for nearly one hour on Monday night, Ambssador Dan Mozena said they had a ‘wonderful discussion’.
He said the Leader of the Opposition had told him the BNP would work closely with Bangladesh’s neighbours to curb militancy and terrorism. Mozena said he wanted the government and the opposition to come closer to find a mutually acceptable way to the next election, as agencies reported quoting him.
Shamser Mobin Chowdhury, a Vice Chairman, quoted Khaleda as telling the Ambassador that “her government would prioritise fuel, roads and rail communications, curbing corruption and economic development”.
“The BNP would emphasise improving Bangladesh’s bilateral relations with other South Asian nations,” he said.
Mozena said the US believed a ‘dialogue’ between the two leading political parties—the Awami League and the BNP—over the next elections would lead to an agreement.
He said Bangladesh did not want any interference from the outside.
Chowdhury, a former Foreign Secretary, said the Khaleda had told Mozena that the government must pay heed to the opinion of “90 percent Bangladeshis who believe free and fair polls is not possible under a partisan body”.
“We hope the government would resolve the crisis over the national election,” he quoted her as saying.
The BNP leader said enforcing shutdowns was ‘part of a political movement’. “We will stop enforcing anymore lockdowns if the government reaches an agreement with us,” he said.
Mozena said he did not support shutdowns which often turn ‘violent’. He believed there are other ‘peaceful ways’ of protest.
The US envoy had returned from a visit to Washington where he had gone ‘to discuss’ Bangladesh getting back the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) facility or duty-free access of goods.
The programme is designed to help the poor nations improve.
On Jun 27, the US stripped Bangladesh of the facility citing dangerous working conditions in the readymade garments factories.
The action came in the backdrop of the multi-storey Rana Plaza collapse in April which claimed over 1,100 lives, mostly RMG workers, and a fire at Tazreen Fashions Limited garments factory killing another 112 workers.
The US said the move was to push Bangladesh to improve its working conditions.
Bangladesh is the second largest exporter of ready-made garment products after China.
Mozena said the US did not want to witness a repeat of such disasters and that his country wanted to assist Bangladesh safeguard the workers’ rights and improve factory safety. – bdnews24.com
