UK hopes emergency to be lifted soon

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British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Anwar Choudhury yesterday said the UK hoped that the present caretaker government would lift the state of emergency soon and set a detailed roadmap for the next election.

The UK also stressed the importance of the Bangladesh government’s commitment to proper process and human rights, he told reporters after a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda.

“I stressed that it was important that the government demonstrate commitment to due process and human rights,” Choudhury quoted British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett as telling Bangladesh Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury on April 19.

The CEC told reporters that the government’s political decision affects the activities of the Election Commission (EC) and “To lift the ban on indoor politics is the government’s political decision.”

“There are two sides of the election, one is technical and another is political, and the EC looks after the technical side of the election,” Huda said, adding, “It is the task of the government to create an environment conducive to election.”

On holding dialogues with the political parties, he said, “We are ready to start the process and we have informed the government of this.”

On his discussion with the British high commissioner, Huda said, “We discussed financial help” but did not elaborate.

Asked about the government’s reported initiatives to send the two top leaders of BNP and Awami League into exile, Anwar Choudhury said, “This is an issue for the political parties and the Government of Bangladesh.”

He, however, said, “The leaders are not in exile.”

Lauding the EC’s activities for holding the upcoming election, he said, “I wanted to hear about the plans for moving ahead to free and fair elections. I congratulated the restructured Election Commission for the job they have done.”

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