UN has full confidence in its Dhaka team: Spokesperson
The United Nations has said it has full confidence in its team working in Bangladesh and what the government has done (summoning the resident coordinator) is a common procedure.
Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesperson of the UN secretary general, came up with the statement at a press briefing at the UN headquarters on Friday.
The government had summoned UN resident coordinator in Dhaka, Gwyn Lewis, for her tweet expressing concern over the attack on Hero Alom, an independent candidate of Dhaka-17 by-election.
Referring to the incident, a journalist asked the spokesperson how a member state can summon the UN resident coordinator for just an informal tweet, or formal tweet expressing concern. He also sought to know if the secretary general is aware of the situation in Bangladesh.
In response, Stéphane Dujarric said, “The secretary-general has full confidence in the UN team in Bangladesh. It is not uncommon for a member state to call in a resident coordinator if they have an issue with what that person has said.”
The spokesperson further said it is the procedure that the member states utilise when they are not happy with something that someone has said.
“But, we have full confidence in the work of our country team,” he added.
The reporter also drew the spokesperson’s attention to the recent rallies in Dhaka and other districts for resignation of prime minister Sheikh Hasina and noted that at least two opposition activists died and hundreds received injuries during their anti-regime demonstration.
He sought to know the UN’s view if it considers the situation in Bangladesh fair enough to hold a free and fair election.
Stéphane Dujarric said, “What I do think is that people have a right to speak up, to demonstrate peacefully. Authorities have a responsibility to help people uphold that right and that goes across the board.”
However, he declined to go for any specific statement over the election, saying, “We get asked this question many times. I’m not going to prejudge the elections before they happen.”
Gwyn Lewis had expressed concern over the attack on Hero Alom through his official Twitter handle. Later, the government came up with a strong reaction and it prompted them to summon the resident coordinator.
Sheldon Yett, the acting resident coordinator of UN in Dhaka, responded to the call and met foreign affairs ministry’s additional secretary Asad Alam Siam at the foreign service academy in Dhaka.
Alongside expressing discontent, the additional secretary briefed him about the government’s expectation that the UN would refrain from making any such statement publicly over any internal matter of Bangladesh in future.