Staff Reporter:
A high-level delegation of the European Union (EU) yesterday met with Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Dr Md Shafiqur Rahman at his office in the capital’s Bashundhara area and held meeting.
The three-member delegation was led by Paola Pampaloni, director for Asia and the Pacific of the Euro-pean External Action Service (EEAS). Other members of the delegation included EU Ambassador to Bangladesh Michael Miller and Monika Bylaite, deputy head of the South Asia Division of the EEAS.
Senior Jamaat leaders present at the meeting included Nayeeb-e-Ameer and former MP Dr Syed Abdul-lah Mohammad Taher, Assistant Secretary General and Head of the Central Publicity and Media De-partment Advocate Ehsanul Mahbub Zubayer, senior Supreme Court lawyer Advocate Mohammad Shishir Monir, and Foreign Affairs Adviser to the Ameer Professor Dr Mahmudul Hasan.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Dr Taher said the hour-long discussion primarily focused on the upcoming national election in Bangladesh.
He said Jamaat leaders emphasized the need for a free, fair and neutral election, noting that the absence of credible elections has been a major contributor to the country’s long-standing political crisis over the past 55 years.
“If the next election is not held in a fair manner, the crisis will resurface,” Dr Taher said, expressing concern over the recent partisan behaviour by law enforcement agencies and the administration.
“We urged all concerned to maintain neutrality immediately to ensure public confidence in the electoral process,” he continued.
According to Dr Taher, the EU delegation informed Jamaat leaders that the European Union plans to deploy the highest possible number of observers in the upcoming election and reiterated its interest in seeing a credible electoral process.
