US Ambassador in Dhaka James F Moriarty Saturday described the release of former premier Sheikh Hasina as a positive step ahead of the national election and said the participation of all parties in the polls is a must to ensure a free, fair and credible election, reports UNB.
'It's (Sheikh Hasina's release) a good start ahead of a fair and credible election. But now it should be ensured that all parties are going to participate in the election,' Moriarty said.
He was replying to a question by a journalist about Hasina's recent release from a makeshift jail.
Moriarty was addressing a press conference on the occasion of renovation of the Consular Section of the US Embassy in Dhaka.
The US envoy hoped that all the complexities regarding the elections would be dissolved and the polls would be held within the set time.
He reiterated his call for making 'compromise' among all the political parties to hold a free and fair election.
Asked whether BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia should also be released like Sheikh Hasina for creating a level-playing field for the elections, Moriarty said, 'I don't know what should be the process, but one thing we believe that all the political parties will have to attend the elections for the sake of democracy.'
Asked to clear the term 'compromise' as he used it for several times since he has taken over as the Ambassador in Dhaka, Moriarty said he always wanted to mean an election with participation of all parties on the basis of mutual understanding.
But no understanding only before and during election will be enough for a healthy democracy, rather all will have to have a vision and consensus for post-election issues that will ensure political and socioeconomic stability in Bangladesh, he observed.
Moriarty said the USA would continue to extend its support to Bangladesh both in pre- and post-election situations.
When sought comments on whether the release of Sheikh Hasina and other top political leaders who were accused of corruption will hamper the mission of Bangladesh to make a corruption-free society, Moriarty parried the question but warned that if Bangladesh fails to prove that corruption does not decrease here regularly, then foreign investors would also lose their interests in making investments in the country.
'We hope, the anti-corruption drives will not be diminished in future as corruption always has been the biggest barrier to attracting foreign, even the domestic investments also,' he told the journalists.
About the process of Sheikh Hasina's release, Moriarty said the USA hoped that all trials in Bangladesh would be done with full justice.
Moriarty also laid emphasis on lifting the state of emergency before election. He said, 'It'll be difficult to hold a free and fair election under the state of emergency.'
Later, Moriarty inaugurated three more windows at the consular section for the visa applicants. The number of windows for visa applicants now stands at 11.
Moriarty said they want to see that an increasing number of Bangladeshi students are going to the USA for studies as they are expected to enrich higher educational institutions in the United States as well as make them better able to contribute economically, culturally and politically to Bangladesh.
He suggested the Bangladeshi visa applicants, especially those for non-immigrant and student visas, to apply early, as the processing of US visa needs at least three months for completion.
Moriarty asked the visa applicants to be careful about the visa brokers and said the US Embassy will continue to cooperate with the security agencies to destroy the groups of visa brokers.
