Chief_Adviser
Number of posts : 615
Age : 41
City/Town : in ur heart .
Registration date : 2008-06-10
 |  Subject: UK minister urges parties to support govt for JS polls..............  Tue Oct 14, 2008 11:58 am | |
|  British parliamentarian Lord Mark Malloch Brown has urged political parties in Bangladesh to support the caretaker government in holding scheduled parliamentary polls for a peaceful democratic transition.
He also called on parties to recognise the institutional reforms initiated by the military-backed interim government.
Brown, UK Minister of State for Asia, Africa and the United Nations, made the calls in a press statement on Tuesday ahead of his two-day visit to Bangladesh.
The sixth British minister to tour Bangladesh since the caretaker government assumed office on Jan 12 last year, he will arrive Wednesday.
"At this critical point in Bangladesh's history, attention has to be on achieving a smooth, peaceful transition to an elected government in 2008, and securing lasting, sustainable democracy thereafter," the minister said in a press statement issued by the British High Commission in Bangladesh.
He said the UK's interests in this country, like those of the Bangladeshi people, depended on establishing a stable and democratic country.
"What's at stake – the future development of Bangladesh and its people – is too important to risk a return to the politics of violence and confrontation," said the UK minister for state.
"That's why we encourage all sides to create conditions conducive to holding credible elections, to engage constructively with the democratic process, to commit to participation in elections, and to embrace and consolidate the positive institutional reforms that have taken place during the last two years."
During his stay, Brown is scheduled to meet with chief adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed, the foreign affairs adviser, home affairs adviser, chief of army staff and senior figures from Bangladesh's two main political parties, the statement said.
He is expected to meet a range of senior civil society figures, Bangladeshi members of United Nations peacekeeping forces, and hold a roundtable discussion with human rights defenders, the statement says. | |
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