5 US Congressmen write to Dr Yunus, urges inclusive, free and fair polls

Five members of the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs have sent a letter to the Bangladesh Interim Government, stressing the importance of inclusive, free and fair elections. 

According to a press release issued Tuesday, Representatives Gregory W. Meeks, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Bill Huizenga and Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Chair and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on South and Central Asia, sent a letter to Dr. Mohammed Yunus, Chief Adviser of the Interim Government of Bangladesh, expressing concern over the total ban of a political party ahead of elections in February. Cosigners of the letter include Representatives Julie Johnson and Tom Suozzi.

The letter states, "We welcome your willingness to step forward at a moment of national crisis in Bangladesh to lead an interim government ahead of elections in February of next year. 

"It is vital that the interim government work with parties across the political spectrum to create the conditions for free and fair elections that allow the voice of the Bangladeshi people to be expressed peacefully through the ballot box, as well as reforms that restore confidence in the integrity and nonpartisanship of state institutions." 

It adds, "We are concerned that this cannot happen if the government suspends activities of political parties or again restarts the flawed International Crimes Tribunal.

“Freedom of association, as well as the principle of individual rather than collective criminal responsibility, are fundamental human rights. We are concerned that the decision to fully suspend the activity of any one political party, rather than focus on persons determined to have committed crimes or gross violations of human rights through the due process of law, is inconsistent with those principles."