Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Monday said they are not that much worried about the next national election, noting that the election will be held timely and fairly.
"Election will be held at the time of election. We believe in people," he told reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Momen said the government is committed to holding a "free, fair, transparent and inclusive" election.
He said it would be good if all the parties join the next elections, if not, that is okay.
Asked whether the government could assure the foreigners about a fair election, Momen said, “It’s not our headache, it is your headache. Why should I assure foreigners? If we work accordingly, they will understand.”
He said the next election is still far away and in other countries they see election-related events just two months ahead of the scheduled election. “Here we see election-centric noises one year ahead of the election. This is very sad.”
Momen said there is an ‘independent Election Commission with transparent arrangements’ to hold fair elections.
To greet the first day of the New Year, the top leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs virtually addressed the Heads of Bangladesh Missions abroad and senior officials on Sunday evening highlighting the government's foreign policy priorities and guidelines to be pursued in 2023.
Momen suggested the Bangladesh envoys abroad to find effective ways to learn lessons from those countries and their best practices to build a "Smart Bangladesh."
He said regional peace and stability must be ensured for sustainable development.
Momen said there is a need for ensuring peace and stability, and Bangladesh also needs to manage its resources in an efficient and effective way to achieve its goals. “We need peace and stability to make development sustainable.”
He suggested the Bangladesh envoys abroad respond to any misinformation against Bangladesh immediately with facts.
“Let us know – both good and bad things. There is nothing to be shy about. We are a team; our all missions are an extension of my ministry. As a team we should share both good and negative things. You should also take some responsibility,” he said, adding that they discussed what sort of strategies Bangladesh should take to deal with issues in the coming days.
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Responding to a question on border killing, the foreign minister said they got assurance from the highest level to bring down the border killings to zero. “It is not our failure.”
Meanwhile, the government has decided to deal with "anti-government propaganda" at home and abroad in a "coordinated way" and fight against misinformation by presenting correct information.
Representatives from the relevant ministries and departments will sit regularly to find effective ways to present correct information about Bangladesh against fabrication and misinformation.
The decision was taken at a meeting held at the state guesthouse Padma on Sunday with the Foreign Minister in the chair.
Law Minister Anisul Huq, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan and representatives from law enforcement agencies were present.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will coordinate the work.
"It's not a technical committee, it's a coordination committee," Momen said on Monday.
He said they had a similar coordination committee in the past and tried to reenergise that committee to have better coordination with the relevant ministries.
Momen said it is for everything, not just for fighting against propaganda. “It is a pretty wide spectrum, not specific for a single issue.”