Allies leaving US alone on Bangladesh issue

After the violent incidents during the BNP's October 28 rally, western countries decided to release a joint statement. However, a difference of opinion regarding the statement's wording soon arose. It took the countries two days to come to an agreement. In the released statement, seven countries, including the US, called for creating the proper environment to hold the polls.

Meanwhile, the US embassy in Dhaka released a statement on October 28 to condemn the violence. The statement also said that these incidents will be taken into consideration in the case of visa restrictions.

On October 29, the European Union also released a statement, which stressed the need for participatory and peaceful elections.

Regarding the October 28 and Bangladesh issues, the US and the EU have taken distinctly different stances, diplomatic analysts say.

Previously, the envoys of the Western countries decided to release a joint statement regarding the attack on the independent candidate in the Dhaka-17 by-election Ashraful Hossen Alom alias Hero Alom. It took two days for them to reach an agreement. In the end, 13 countries released a statement condemning the attack.

According to diplomatic sources, lately, the US has been having difficulty reaching an agreement with its Western allies. Especially, the allies often do not agree with the US's way of wording the agreements. Hence, it takes days to reach an agreement about the statements, which end up being flexible.

Recently, the Daily Samakal reached out to Western diplomats in Dhaka regarding the upcoming parliamentary elections and labour rights, asking for their stances on these issues. While none of the diplomats gave an official statement, they explained their stances regarding the issues.

The US has already said they expect a free and fair election and has called for dialogues to achieve this goal. Washington has already warned of visa restrictions if diplomacy is hampered.

Meanwhile, Russia and China have also cleared their stance on their matters. They said the polls remain Bangladesh's internal matter, and it will be held according to the constitution. Both of these countries have also commented that the US is intervening in Bangladesh's internal matters.

India has taken a stance contrasting their ally US, and also said the elections remain Bangladesh's internal matter.

While France, Germany, the UK, Canada, Italy, Norway, Netherlands, Switzerland, and Japan are the US's allies on the world stage, they are leaving the US alone when it comes to the issues of labour laws and the upcoming elections in Bangladesh.

In November, an EU delegation visited and urged Bangladesh to ensure human rights along with labour rights to continue the EBA benefits and the granting of Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) Plus benefits after Bangladesh's graduation from the Least Developed Country (LDC) status.

When asked whether the EU takes a similar stance as the US regarding the upcoming parliamentary elections in Bangladesh, EU Ambassador to Bangladesh Charles Whitley said, "As like GSP, the EU has its own point of view in other matters as well. We hold discussions and handle the matters the way the EU does. And an independent specialist team of the EU is in Bangladesh to observe the polls."

/KN/