US team wants to know if there is scope for compromise: AL

Desk News :: The ruling Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader on Monday said that a joint Pre-Election Assessment Mission from the United States wanted to know whether there was any scope for compromise between the ruling Awami League and the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

‘We told the US team that BNP had kept no space for compromise and adjustment. They [BNP] have blocked all the spaces,’ said Quader while briefing journalists after holding meeting with the with the six-member delegation from the International Republican Institute and National Democratic Institute.

He said that negotiation could not take place as BNP wanted the resignation of prime minister Sheikh Hasina, caretaker government and dissolution of the Election Commission.

Quader, also the road, transport and bridges minister, questioned the US team and wanted to know the reason of the prime minister’s resignation.

‘Awami League neither lost majority in the parliament nor a huge number of people took to the streets,’ Quader told US team.

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Earlier in the morning, the US pre-election assessment team met with the BNP delegation at BNP chairperson’s Gulshan office in Dhaka.

BNP said that it informed the visiting pre-election observation team that a fair election would not be possible under Sheikh Hasina.

The joint IRI and NDI pre-election assessment mission arrived in Bangladesh to follow electoral preparations and conduct an independent and impartial assessment, according to a press release issued by the NDI earlier on Sunday.

The six-member delegation will meet a diverse group of election stakeholders, including government officials, political party leaders, election authorities, civil society, and others, from October 8 to 12, it said.

The delegation is co-chaired by Karl F Inderfurth, a former assistant secretary of state for South Asian affairs, and Bonnie Glick, a former deputy USAID administrator.

The delegates also include Maria Chin Abdullah, a former member of the House of Representatives, Malaysia; Jamil Jaffer, former associate counsel to the president of the United States, Manpreet Singh Anand, NDI regional director for Asia-Pacific; and Johanna Kao, IRI senior director, Asia-Pacific Division, according to the release.