The European Union on Tuesday night assured BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman that it will stand beside Bangladesh with stronger and increased cooperation in the coming days.

“They (the EU) said they would extend cooperation on a larger scale and with greater commitment in the days ahead,” BNP Standing Committee member Nazrul Islam Khan told reporters after a meeting between Tarique Rahman and an EU delegation.

The delegation, led by European Union Ambassador Michael Miller, visited the BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office in the evening and held talks with Tarique Rahman on various issues.

The meeting, which lasted for more than one and a half hours, mainly focused on the upcoming 13th national parliamentary election, BNP’s views on holding a free and fair election, the overall political situation in the country, and the condition of workers in Bangladesh.

Besides Tarique Rahman and Nazrul Islam Khan, BNP Chairperson’s Advisory Council member Ismail Zabihull, Joint Secretary General Humayun Kabir, and Acting Chairman’s Adviser Mahdi Amin were present at the meeting.

During the meeting, Nazrul Islam said,Tarique Rahman thanked the European Union for its continued support to Bangladesh’s development and urged it to play a more effective role in the future so that the people of Bangladesh benefit more.

In response, he said, the EU delegation expressed its willingness to enhance cooperation with Bangladesh in many areas in the coming days.

Nazrul said the EU delegation raised some concerns, particularly regarding labour rights.

In reply, Tarique Rahman said BNP governments had played the most important role in ensuring workers’ welfare in Bangladesh.

Nazrul said that during the tenure of former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, reforms were made to the labour court and the Labour Welfare Foundation was established. “BNP has always been sincere about workers’ welfare.”

He said BNP is not only committed to protecting existing labour laws and reforms but is also keen to strengthen them further in the interest of workers.

Nazrul said the EU representatives informed Tarique Rahman that the European Union will send a large election observation mission for the upcoming national election. “They mainly discussed these issues with our Acting Chairman. It was a very positive and fruitful discussion."

He said the EU wanted to know how the election would be held, what role BNP would play, and how the party thinks about the country’s development after the election.

Nazrul said Tarique Rahman clearly told the delegation that it was BNP that demanded holding the election as early as possible and the election will be held on the schedule announced by the Election Commission.

“He said BNP wants the election to be peaceful, free and fair. He reaffirmed the party’s strong commitment to this,” the BNP leader said.Nazrul said Tarique Rahman also mentioned that people in the country had been deprived of voting for a long time. “People are eagerly waiting for a peaceful election where they can take part and express their hopes and aspirations through their votes,” he said.

“Tarique Rahman also said BNP is actively preparing to take part in the election and is taking all necessary steps in this regard,” he added.

The BNP leader said the EU had not sent observers to the last few elections held under the Awami League government.

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“This time, they are sending a large observation mission because they believe the election will be free, fair and peaceful, and that people’s aspirations will be reflected,” he said.

Nazrul said BNP believes this reflects the EU’s support for the election process and that the EU will extend greater cooperation to the government formed through this election.

Regarding the election environment, he said, “Alhamdulillah, the current election environment is good.”

This was the first meeting of Tarique Rahman with a foreign delegation at the party office since his return to the country on December 25.