Govt distorted Jan 5 polls comment of Cameron: BNP

BNP Friday accused the government of spreading lies over British Prime Minister David Cameron’s comment about the January-5 election in Bangladesh during his meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
“They (govt) have said David Cameron told Hasina that the election was over. It’s past. Now we look at the future. But we’ve seen in the newspapers that he voiced the UK’s disappointment over the January-5 election. What a blatant falsehood they’ve resorted to,” said BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi. He was addressing a press briefing at BNP’s Nayapaltan central office, according to a news agency.
At a press conference on PM’s UK visit Thursday, Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali said the British government wants to strengthen its relations with Bangladesh on all fronts to help Bangladesh take its development trajectory to a newer height.
“The election is over. It’s past. Now we look at the future. We want to work with your government and strengthen the ties,” he quoted British Prime Minister David Cameron as saying during his meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Hours later, Downing Street spokesperson in a statement said David Cameron expressed UK’s disappointment over the January-5 election in Bangladesh and laid emphasis on an open society and political system in which democratic political participation and media freedoms are respected.
 “The PM noted our disappointment over the January 2014 Bangladesh election with more than half of constituencies uncontested,” the spokesman said.