Report in BDNews24,com, Oct 25, 2017 at 23:35 hrs
India supports the “government incumbency” during the general elections, and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has conveyed the message to the BNP chairperson during their meeting in Dhaka.
Khaleda Zia met Sushma Swaraj at Hotel Sonargoan during her visit on Oct 22 and 23.
“We cannot recommend a system which is contrary to us,” a diplomatic source in New Delhi who was present during the meeting told bdnews24.com on Wednesday.
After the meeting, BNP leaders said they discussed election issues with the Indian minister.
BNP did not participate in the last general elections because the Awami League government headed by Sheikh Hasina as Prime Minister at that time. They demanded a caretaker government to oversee the elections.
BNP leaders are not happy with the then Indian government’s role in the 2014 election that the Awami League won in a ‘one-sided’ voting.
The ruling Awami League, however, have been insisting that Hasina will remain prime minister during the polls as per the constitutional provision.
The Election Commission has now completed the dialogue with the political parties, civil society members and elections experts and received 531 recommendations from the political parties on the election scheduled between December 2018 and January 2019.
The diplomatic source said India as a democracy conveyed to Khaleda Zia that it wants a “free and fair” election in Bangladesh with the “best possible participation” of political parties.
The external affairs minister also explained the Indian way of holding elections to the BNP chairperson.
Sushma visited Bangladesh mainly to attend the joint consultative commission with her counterpart AH Mahmood Ali.
She also met the politicians of different parties, inaugurated 15 India funded projects.https://bdnews24.com/politics/2017/10/25/india-supports-government-incumbency-during-elections-in-bangladesh
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