European Parliament calls for strong EC
EP team says political situation in Bangladesh stable; meets govt highups, speaker, BNP chief and business leaders
STAFF REPORTER
The visiting delegation of European Parliament (EP) yesterday termed the current political situation in Bangladesh as stable but called upon the incumbent government to form a strong election commission for the next general election. The call came from Bernd Lange, chair of the Committee on International Trade (INTA) who led the EU delegation, during a press conference at the Dhaka office of the EU.
Replying to a query from the journalists, Lange said that they are closely monitoring the democratic development in Bangladesh and they believe Bangladesh still has a lot of millage to cover to ensure that. He said that ensuring freedom of expression and democratic practices are some of the key conditions for Bangladesh getting the GSP plus status. Bangladesh is well one path of meeting all 27 conditions to get the GSP, he said, adding, but those are the areas that Bangladesh still needs to work on. Lange said that out of the 48 least developed countries (LDP), Bangladesh has been making remarkable progress in the last couple of years. We see the development that this country has made in comparison with other 47 countries. This will lead to a status change of Bangladesh.
This means that the trade relation with Bangladesh has to be changed too, said Lange who is also the chair of the Committee on International Trade for the European Parliament.
The visit was an opportunity to launch a dialogue on the future of EU-Bangladesh trade relations once Bangladesh will evolve from a Least-Developed Country (LDC) to a developing country and a new arrangement for value-added trade relations needs to be agreed, Lange told reporters. He said that in achieving the status of a middle income country, the fundamental human rights, freedom of expressions and labour rights must not be narrowed down. These must be improved in the coming months and years. During the visit, the EP delegation met Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, PMs political adviser HT Imam, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, State Minister for Labour and Employment M Majibul Haque and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia. The EP delegation also held meeting with BGMEA and leading Chambers of Commerce, Women Entrepreneurs, Trade Unions, International Labour Organisation (ILO) and UNICEF, and civil society members.
During the meet with HT Imam, the PMs advisor told the EP team that the next parliamentary election will be held in due time according to the constitution of Bangladesh and it would take place through a transparent process.
HT Imam also conveyed the governments stance of Zero Tolerance against terrorism that received the full and active support of the people of Bangladesh.
There is no place for extremists and terrorists on this land, he was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry.
Meanwhile, the EP team said they want democracy, the rule of law and human rights to be protected in Bangladesh, according to BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir who briefed reporters about the BNP chiefs meeting with the visiting delegation.
He said the delegation members said they also want to see the Election Commission to be reconstituted with competent and neutral persons. Fakhrul said they discussed the countrys political situation and bilateral issues relating to trade and commerce with the EP team.
The 14-member delegation of the International Trade Committee of EP arrived Bangladesh on November 14 to assess the progress of achieving improvement in health and safety as well as labour rights in export-driven sector like the readymade garment (RMG).
