The US government does not take sides in Bangladesh’s elections, Brent T Christensen, the newly appointed US ambassador to Bangladesh, said on Wednesday.
He added that the outcome of the election is for the Bangladeshi people and only the Bangladeshi people to decide. He said, “We are prepared to work with any government who the Bangladeshi people elect to represent them going forward.”
Earlier, the US envoy, led by the US ambassador, sat for a talk with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin at the Election Commission’s (EC) headquarters in Dhaka’s Agargaon.
The meeting began around 11:50am at the CEC’s office, with the EC’s Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed also present.
After the meeting on Wednesday afternoon, Brent Christensen said, “I just finished a very good meeting with the chief election commissioner to talk about the election.”
“CEC explained to me a great deal about all the policies, preparations, and procedures that the interim government has been doing in preparation for elections,” he said.
“As I said all the way back to my confirmation hearing before the US Senate, I am very excited about the upcoming elections. I’m very much looking forward to them and to seeing the outcome of those elections.”
“Last week when I met with the chief adviser, he told me he hopes that it will be a festive day for the election day. I share that hope. I hope that it is a festive election day that the Bangladeshi people are able to go and express themselves and that you have a very successful election.”
He added, “I feel very good about the information CEC shared with me and I look forward, like all of you, to seeing the results on 12 February.”
After the US ambassador briefed the media, when asked, “How do you see the 13th national election?” the envoy declined to take any questions and said, “sorry”.
