United News of Bangladesh

Bangladesh will maintain a  real-time engagement with Meta to prevent the spread of misinformation and disinformation on Facebook during the upcoming 13th national election scheduled for February 12, said Chief Adviser’s Special Envoy on International Affairs Lutfey Siddiqi on Tuesday. Lutfey Siddiqi made the remarks at a press conference held at the Foreign Service Academy, where he briefed the media on Bangladesh’s participation and outcomes at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, last week. He said Meta itself is keen to establish real-time communication with Bangladesh during the election period. “We have a meeting with Meta’s legal team on Wednesday morning. They want real-time engagement with us during the election.” Election officials can’t campaign for or against referendum: EC Anwar He also said Meta is already in contact with the Election Commission (EC). “Meta has its own tools to counter misinformation during elections, and they are discussing those with the EC. In serious situations, Meta will assist Bangladesh in stopping misinformation or shutting down provocative pages.” Addressing concerns over Bangladesh’s data protection ordinance, Lutfey Siddiqi said initial tensions with Meta have now been resolved. “They misunderstood a few issues, which we clarified. Compared to any other time, our relationship with Meta is now quite strong.” Lutfey Siddiqi  also mentioned discussions with PayPal on the sidelines of the WEF meeting, saying the global digital payments platform has shown interest in entering the Bangladeshi market. No possibility of postponing or destabilising Feb-12 election: Home Adviser “PayPal has held talks with the Bangladesh Bank governor and CEO of several private banks and has taken a positive view of Bangladesh. They will discuss the matter at their governing board,” Lutfey Siddiqi said, adding that PayPal expressed satisfaction after engaging with local entrepreneurs, business leaders and banking analysts.

BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman will lead the party in the upcoming 13th national election, likely to be held in February, said his foreign affairs adviser Humayun Kabir on Thursday. Talking to reporters at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the morning after returning from the United States, he said, “The national election will be held in February. Tarique Rahman will lead BNP in that election.” Asked about Tarique Rahman’s return to Bangladesh, Kabir said that since he would be leading the party, it was natural for him to return.  “He will return home soon. Once the date is fixed, you will know… There is no doubt about his return,” he added. In the 2001 national election Khaleda Zia led BNP, while Tarique played an important role in the electoral process. This time, Tarique Rahman himself will lead the party in the election. About his visit to the UN General Assembly with Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus, Kabir said the Chief Adviser was very sincere about holding the upcoming national election. “We hope the election will be held in February next year,” he said. Salahuddin warns of plots against Bangladesh’s democratic transition He said the Chief Adviser led Bangladesh’s delegation at the UN General Assembly, which included different political parties and showed that Bangladesh was united. The BNP leader also defended the party over the incident at New York’s JFK Airport on 23 September, when political leaders were harassed during the Chief Adviser’s trip. “Throwing eggs does not damage the country’s image. Rather, it has again exposed the fascist nature of Awami League. It also proved why their political activities were banned in Bangladesh — it was the right decision,” he said. Kabir blamed the incident on poor coordination by the embassy and security officials but said the Chief Adviser had assured them that action would be taken. Tarique warns of covert autocracy, calls for unity He described the New York visit as a success, saying, “It showed that Bangladesh is united and standing tall on the international stage.”

The Election Commission (EC) will publish the final voter lists on November 18 ahead of the upcoming 13th parliamentary election, incorporating the youths whose ages would turn 18 years by October 31 next. The EC will publish the draft voter lists on November 1 to receive any objection and recommendation in this regard. Then the Commission will release the final electoral rolls on November 18 after settling claims and objections if any. Draft law approved to intensify EC’s authority to punish negligence in election duty According to a recent letter sent by the EC Secretariat to its field-level officials, the Commission will settle the claims, objections and appeal for correction, if any, over the draft voter lists, by November 17 and the final electoral rolls will be disclosed on November 18. Now the country has 12,63,07,504 voters. Among them, 6,41,00,455 are men, 6,22,05,819 are women, and 1,230 are third-gender voters.