US wants free, fair elections in Bangladesh: State Department  

The United States has reiterated its call for all parties to collaborate in ensuring the conduct of free and fair elections in Bangladesh in a peaceful manner.  

The statement was made by spokesperson Matthew Miller in response to a journalist's question during the regular briefing at the US State Department on Monday. 

A journalist during the briefing had asked, in light of the current situation in Bangladesh, where the government is conducting election in an unprecedented manner by detaining over 20 thousands of opposition party leaders and activists, custodial death keeps rising as three opposition activists died in six days, arresting family members in absence of the targeted individuals, allowing 'King’s Parties' to participate, with all major political parties – including the main opposition, BNP – boycotting the election, how does the US government assess the likelihood a free and fair election atmosphere in Bangladesh? 

In response Miller said, “I’m going to move on after this one, because we – I’ve got limited time. I’ve got – I know there’s a lot of people that still have questions. I’m not going to speculate on the outcome of the elections. I will say what we have said a number of times before, which is we will continue to engage with the government, opposition, civil society, and other stakeholders to urge them to work together for the benefit of the Bangladeshi people to ensure free and fair elections that are conducted in a peaceful manner.”