UK hopes next election will be free, fair, participatory and credible to all: High Commissioner

The United Kingdom hopes the National Parliamentary Elections, slated in 2023, in Bangladesh will be free, fair, participatory and credible to all, said Robert Chatterton Dickson, the British high commissioner to Bangladesh.

"We look forward to dialogues and participatory debates between all parties, including the two major parties in Bangladesh, for an inclusive election," Dickson said on Monday while speaking at the "Meet the Ambassador" event, jointly organised by the Centre for Governance Studies (CGS) and Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES).

"The government of Bangladesh should conduct an independent and impartial investigation into the allegations of illegal detention of citizens by the law enforcement agencies," he said responding to a question at the event held at the Khazana restaurant in the capital's Gulshan-2 area.

Robert Dickson further said while it is an internal matter of Bangladesh, it is Bangladesh's responsibility to conduct fair elections.

"We can monitor it, ask international organisations and others to monitor it. However, Bangladesh has its own constitution and it is Bangladesh's responsibility to conduct fair elections accordingly," he added.

A team from the British High Commission recently met with officials in the Election Commission and hoped that the next national polls will be a good one.

The British high commissioner also said he hopes that the political parties will discuss among themselves for a fair election.

On the Rohingya issue, the British high-commissioner said the UK has been with Bangladesh from the beginning on the Rohingya issue.

The UK will work with the international community to continue to pressure Myanmar to take back Rohingyas in their own land, he said.

Robert Dickson said, "The UK is a major export destination for Bangladesh. Work is being done to make the export easier. Besides, the United Kingdom is also helping Bangladesh to deal with the threats of climate change."

We must adapt ourselves to this changing climate, he said.

In response to a participant's question on money laundering in UK from Bangladesh Robert Dickson said, "It is a problem all over the world and we have changed our laws to give us more powers… now we have what's called an Unexplained Wealth Orders where if somebody turns out to be richer, if somebody claims to be a civil servant in another country, buys himself a mansion in London, then we are entitled to ask where the money came from and was it legally acquired.

"These powers are complicated to use and we have a legal system that protects everybody including people who may become subject to this orders," he said adding, "We are committed to make London less easy place for money laundering."  

CGS Chairman Dr Monjur A Chowdhury and Shadhan Kumar Das, the program coordinator of FESA gave their Welcome speeches at the beginning of the program, moderated by Zillur Rahman, executive director of CGS.

Various political leaders, members of parliament, educationists, development workers and prominent personalities joined the event.