News Desk :
BNP and Jamaat had appointed eight firms to lobby with the United States against providing aid and development assistance to Bangladesh, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told the parliament on Wednesday.
He said this while delivering his statement under section 300 of the rules of procedure of parliament.
He said that the government has also proof that the BNP through
appointing lobbyists was involved in imposing US sanctions on Rab and appeal to the United Nations Department of Peace Operations to ban Rab from UN peacekeeping missions, reports UNB.
“…sadly, BNP appointed lobbyists have provided such statements against Bangladesh that would offend the people of the country. BNP has told them (US) that security of the USA will be hindered due to Bangladesh. How can they write this? Shame on them (BNP),” the minister said.
Momen said that as per the US law hiring lobbyist in the United States is legal. India, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other countries and many organisations of the world appoint lobbyists to improve political and economic relations.
“But here the main issue is the purpose of hiring lobbyist (by BNP),” he said.
The foreign minister said that BNP-Jamaat had appointed a total of 8 lobbyist firms in the United States.
In 2014, Jamaat hired a firm to stop the trial of war criminals. For this they paid one and a half lakh dollars. They hired another lobbyist firm to stop the trial process.
He said that BNP had spent 1.20 lakh dollar each month as retainer fee and 27 lakh dollar each year from February 2015 to April 2017.
Momen said that the BNP had hired four lobbyist firms till 2017 and one in 2019. And to prevent the trial of war criminals, Jamaat-BNP appointed three lobbyist firms, he said.
The foreign minister said that none of the BNP workers in the grassroots would want that the country’s trade and commerce become closed.
Some of their top level leaders have done such things without informing them.
The minister in his statement admitted that the government had not hired lobbyists, rather it has hired PR firm.
“The government didn’t hire any such body who engaged in lobbying the Senate and the State Department,” he said.
He also said that the government has done it to stop spreading propaganda against the country, but to spread the real information to counter the false information that is being spread.
