AL govt committed to hold free, fair election, Momen conveys to US

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Sunday said he discussed all major issues, including labour and human rights, constructively without any reservation with visiting US Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu.

“We had very good discussion on all issues without any reservation … we are very happy that we came under consensus largely,” he told reporters after holding a meeting with the US top official at the Foreign Ministry here.

The foreign minister said they also talked about Bangladesh’s upcoming national elections.

Momen said he conveyed to the US side that the current government is committed to hold free, fair and transparent polls as Awami League believes in “ballots not in bullets”.

He informed the US side that the Bangladesh government has ensured voters photo ID, transparent ballot box, and set up a powerful independent election commission to make the election free and fair.

He said Dhaka is ready to take any good suggestions from the US if those are people’s welfare-oriented.

Terming the US as an old friend of Bangladesh for last 50 years, Momen said they discussed how Dhaka and Washington would make the ties more meaningful and closer in the next 50 years.

“We are looking for better days in future,” he added.

The foreign minister said the US has expressed happiness regarding recent performance of the Rapid Action Battalion as they are able to perform their duties respecting human rights.

Momen said that Donald Lu came here to further strengthen the existing Bangladesh-US relations.

The foreign minister said the US assistant secretary of state made some suggestions to further improve the labour rights in Bangladesh so that Dhaka can get access to the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) fund.

“We have already given a roadmap to the Labour Ministry to address the issue,” said the minister.

Momen said he also urged the US investors to invest more in Bangladesh in different sectors, including energy, considering Bangladesh as a “rising sun”.

Apart from foreign minister, the US assistant secretary of state also held separate meetings with state minister for foreign affairs Md Shahriar Alam and foreign secretary Masud Bin Momen at the ministry.

Later, Donald Lu joined a lunch hosted by the foreign secretary at Foreign Service Academy.

Awami League International Affairs Secretary Dr. Shammi Ahmed, Prof. Imtiaz Ahmed, Dr. Lailufar Yasmin, Dr. Delwar Hossain and Chief Executive of the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) Syeda Rizwana Hasan, among others, were also present at the lunch.