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| US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State John Gastright meets Chief Election Commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda at his office in the capital yesterday. Photo: STAR |
By Jay Shankar
Sept. 19 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. wants Bangladesh's military backed government to restore democracy as soon as possible, John Gastright, deputy assistant secretary for South Asian affairs, told the country's election chief.
``Full democracy is vital to the country,'' Gastright said, according to an e-mailed statement from the U.S. embassy in the capital, Dhaka, yesterday. ``Full participation in the electoral process is vital to democracy.''
Gastright, the first senior U.S. official to visit Bangladesh since the interim government took power in January, offered U.S. support to Chief Election Commissioner A.T.M. Shamsul Huda, according to the statement. They discussed the steps underway for elections slated for December 2008.
Bangladesh, a country of 150 million people, has been under a state of emergency since the government canceled elections scheduled for January after months of clashes between supporters of political parties. The administration has arrested about 150 politicians in a crackdown on corruption since then, including former prime ministers Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina Wajed.
Gastright welcomed a decision by the government on Sept. 9 to lift a six-month ban on indoor political meetings to allow talks with political parties. Discussions with 18 political parties have begun on changing voting laws in order to hold elections before the December deadline, Election Commissioner Sakhawat Hossain said.
The government plans to relax more laws, Mainul Hosein, adviser to the government, said Sept. 13 by telephone.
Gastright, who is on a two-day visit to the South Asian nation, will also meet Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed and Foreign Secretary Touhid Hossian, the government said in a faxed statement yesterday.
Voter List
The government wants to hold elections at the earliest possible date and a list of voters with their photographs is being prepared, commissioner Hossain said last week.
The exercise will reduce ``excess voters'' by about 10 million, he said. ``The final list may have more than 70 million voters,'' he added.
Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Wajed's Awami League alliance have been invited to take part in the talks. The BNP won the last general election in 2001.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jay Shankar in Bangalore at jshankar1@bloomberg.net .
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