Bangladesh Nationalist Party standing committee member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury on Wednesday said that the visiting European Union delegation had emphasised the need for a swift return of democracy through timely elections in Bangladesh.
He made the remarks after a meeting between the EU representatives and BNP leaders at the EU office at Gulshan in the capital Dhaka on Wednesday.
Khasru said that the country was heading towards elections in the first half of February and that the EU was satisfied with the democratic direction Bangladesh was taking.
The BNP leader said that during the meeting, they had discussed how quickly Bangladesh could move towards democracy, what actions they should take and what support the EU could provide.
Khasru said that the final message was clear: the EU wants democracy to be restored in Bangladesh as soon as possible, and that all those who support democracy globally share the same goal.
He said that the sooner this could be achieved, the better it would be for the country and for democracy itself.
BNP standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan said that the EU had consistently supported the establishment and strengthening of democracy in Bangladesh and wanted democracy to be restored as quickly as possible.
He added that they discussed expanding EU cooperation in the areas of democracy and trade, and that the EU expressed interest in this regard.
Asked whether the meeting had addressed the issue of proportional representation, Nazrul said that there had been no discussion on PR and that there was currently no need to discuss it, because if PR was agreed upon, the forthcoming polls would not be held under the PR system as it would require constitutional amendments.
The meeting was also attended by BNP鈥檚 acting chairman鈥檚 foreign affairs adviser Humayun Kabir, international affairs secretary Nasir Uddin Asim and organising secretary Shama Obaid.
