UN's Position On 12th Nat'l Polls In Bangladesh Remains Unchanged

There has been no change in the declared position of the United Nations regarding the election of the 12th National Parliament in Bangladesh. Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said this in response to a question on Monday (January 23).

UN human rights chief Volker Turk urged the newly elected government to take urgent steps to change course and renew Bangladesh's global commitment to democracy and human rights.

Such a position of the United Nations in a long statement on the day after the much-discussed 12th National Parliament election on January 7 made noise in the political and diplomatic arena of the country. Volker Turk's statement is seen as an observation of the United Nations and the Western world on the voting issue. Expressing deep concern over the arrest of opposition activists and the suppression of dissent in the run-up to the election, the UN human rights chief openly said in his statement - that the atmosphere of the January 7 election has been severely damaged as a result of violence and suppression of opposition candidates and supporters. The United Nations has demanded an investigation into what happened around the vote.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrote a letter congratulating Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on her re-election last week while discussions on that statement are ongoing. At that time, the question arose, did the United Nations deviate from its previous statement and position regarding the election? Just News editor and a permanent UN correspondent drew the attention of spokesperson Stephen Dujarric at the regular briefing of the United Nations headquarters in New York on Monday.

Dujarric replied, "No." The Secretary-General sent a letter. It has been sent in the same way as the Secretary-General sends letters to heads of state and governments of different countries when they are re-elected.

He emphasized that there has been no change in the position of what has been said by the United Nations from this podium and what the High Commissioner for Human Rights has said.