The United States has said it is closely monitoring the electoral environment in Bangladesh, leading up to January’s general election, and that it takes any incident of violence “incredibly seriously”.
“We are engaging and will continue to engage with the government, with opposition parties, with civil society, and other stakeholders to urge them to work together for the benefit of the Bangladeshi people,” Principal Deputy Spokesperson for the US Department of State, Vedant Patel, said.
Read: US says it takes any violence leading up to election in Bangladesh ‘incredibly seriously’
He made the remarks at a regular briefing on November 6 when a reporter wanted to know whether the US will ask for putting an end to the violence and participation in the election.
Patel reiterated that the US does not support any particular political party in Bangladesh.
“We don’t favor any one political party over the other. Right now our focus continues to be closely monitoring the electoral environment in Bangladesh leading up to January’s election, engaging appropriately with the government, with opposition leaders, with civil society and other stakeholders to urge them to work together for the benefit of the Bangladeshi people,” Patel said.
Responding to a question, the principal deputy spokesperson for the US Department of State said, they have an “incredibly talented” team at the embassy in Dhaka, led by an experienced ambassador who is well-versed not just working in Bangladesh, but also the broader region.
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In a separate briefing at the UN headquarters on November 6, Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, Stephane Dujarric, said that they hope for a “fair and free” election, free of violence, in Bangladesh.
“And as we said, we’ve expressed our concern about the large number of people who’ve been arrested,” he said while responding to a question.
Read: EU concerned over opposition arrests, urges all sides to reject violence
“Well, I can’t speak to why, I mean, I don’t have the details. I can’t speak to why one party did not attend the dialogue,” said the UN chief's spokesman when a journalist mentioned that the Election Commission is holding dialogues with the main political parties to meet the demands of a fair election in Bangladesh, but BNP did not attend the dialogue held on November 4.