Staff Reporter :
The next general elections scheduled to be held by December 2023 is crucial for Bangladesh, says US’s Integrated Country Strategy (ICS) on Bangladesh, as it will determine future of Bangladesh’s politics.
“The 2023 national elections will be critical to determining whether Bangladesh moves towards greater democracy or greater autocracy,” says the 23-page report on Bangladesh categorically.
The ICS on Bangladesh continues to say, “Efforts to strengthen Bangladesh’s fragile democratic institutions and bolster its secular, tolerant, and pluralistic traditions will be essential.”
The report also points out that reform of the security services-particularly in the wake of US human rights sanctions on the Rapid Action Battalion in December 2021-are key to this objective, as are democratic reforms ahead national elections.
The ICS report says that US would continue to engage the Government of Bangladesh to address the most striking human rights issues, including enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and restrictions on core civil liberties.
“We will work with civil society, especially youth, women, labour, and grassroots community activists, to revitalize Bangladesh’s democratic culture. We will also build on recent progress to counter trafficking in persons,” the report says.
The ICS on Bangladesh calls the national elections held in 2018 ‘flawed’ and expressed concern over the government control over media freedom.
“Since the flawed elections of 2018, civic space has shrunk considerably. Through the Digital Security Act and other forms of intimidation, the government has curtailed freedom of the press, the ability of labour to organize, the rule of law, and the right of people to engage in legitimate social discourse,” the report says.
“While Bangladesh continues to host approximately one million Rohingya refugees from Burma, it does not fully support the international donor community’s call for the refugees to be provided access to education and skills training.
“Bangladesh continues to balance its political and security relations with India, China, Russia, and the United States,” the ICS on Bangladesh observes.
