Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus on Thursday said the general election scheduled for 12 February would set the benchmark for all future elections in Bangladesh.
He made the remarks when newly appointed US Ambassador to Brent T Christensen paid his first courtesy visit to the chief adviser at the State Guest House Jamuna in Dhaka.
During the meeting, the two sides discussed a range of issues, including the upcoming national election, labour laws approved by the interim government, the planned Bangladesh–US tariff agreement and the Rohingya crisis.
Yunus outlined key foreign policy priorities of the interim government. These included Dhaka’s bid for Asean membership and efforts to revive SAARC as a platform for regional and economic cooperation in South Asia.
He said the government is fully prepared to hold a free, fair and transparent election on 12 February. He said the European Union would deploy a large number of election observers and expressed hope that other development partners would also send observers to monitor the polls.
“This will be a festive election. It will set the standard for good elections in the future,” the chief adviser said.
Ambassador Christensen said he is looking forward to working with whoever will win the February election. He praised the interim government’s efforts to implement key reforms and commended Professor Yunus’s leadership over the past 18 months. He also appreciated the newly promulgated labour laws.
Yunus thanked US President Donald Trump for lowering tariffs on Bangladeshi exports to the United States. He expressed hope that ongoing trade talks would lead to further tariff reductions.
The US ambassador welcomed progress in the trade negotiations and said expanded agricultural trade remained a key element of Dhaka–Washington discussions.
The chief adviser praised continued US humanitarian assistance for more than one million Rohingya Muslims living in camps in southeastern Bangladesh.
Highlighting Bangladesh’s strategic position between South Asia and Southeast Asia, he said Dhaka had applied for a sectoral dialogue partnership with Asean as part of its bid for membership.
Yunus said he had made sustained efforts over the past 18 months to revive SAARC to bring the region’s peoples and economies closer. He expressed hope that the next government would continue the initiative.
The meeting also covered recent US visa restrictions imposed on 75 countries, including Bangladesh.
National Security Adviser Khalilur Rahman and SDG coordinator Lamiya Morshed were present at the meeting.
