US backs no particular party, expects fair polls

The outgoing US ambassador, Marcia Bernicat, said the dialogue between political parties should not depend on any one leader or any one party, reports bdnews24.com.

Dialogue is not just even the meeting at the high-level, but how party members relate with each other and work together across the country for the benefit of people, she said.

Bernicat, however, praised the dialogue planned for Thursday between the ruling Awami League and the Kamal Hossain-led Jatiya Oikya Front as a "positive development" and an "extraordinary achievement".

The envoy made the comment when she was asked, at her farewell press briefing on Tuesday in Dhaka, about the prospects of the dialogue, with BNP chief Khaleda Zia serving her time in jail. Bernicat is scheduled to leave Dhaka on Friday.

"The dialogue should not be dependent on any one leader or any one party," Bernicat said.

She once again called for free, fair, credible and participatory elections. In order to hold a credible election, there must be a credible opposition that is able to act as a political party, not be subject to intimidation and arbitrary arrest, she said.

Bernicat also maintained that the US is not supporting any particular person or political party or coalition. "We are supporting the democratic process and values that both Bangladesh and the US hold."

She termed it a "rotten idea" that the ambassadors broker political deals, and said it "holds back the democratic development".

"I think by and large we want to be a part of the dialogue to the extent that it helps strengthen the whole process, not strengthen one party and another."

Asked whether her "good office" was used for the benefits of some political parties, she said: "Certainly people tried over time."

"One of our goals is to present our government and the other is to try and understand what's going on and figure out what's important to the US. We meet representatives of all parties for that."

"I know from our history and I know it because a number of the US ambassadors who served here are either my mentors or my bosses or my friends."