Five US lawmakers write to Chief Adviser, urge free, fair elections
Five US lawmakers have written to Professor Muhammad Yunus, Chief Adviser of the interim government, urging that the government work with all political parties to ensure a free and fair national election in February.
The letter was sent on Tuesday to Professor Yunus by members of the US House of Representatives—Gregory W. Meeks, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Bill Huizenga and Sydney Kamlager-Dove, Chair and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on South and Central Asia
The letter was published on Tuesday on the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s website.
Addressing the Chief Adviser, the US lawmakers wrote, “We welcome your willingness to step forward at a moment of national crisis in Bangladesh to lead an interim government ahead of elections in February of next year.”
They said, “It is vital that the interim government work with parties across the political spectrum to create the conditions for free and fair elections that allow the voice of the Bangladeshi people to be expressed peacefully through the ballot box, as well as reforms that restore confidence in the integrity and nonpartisanship of state institutions. We are concerned that this cannot happen if the government suspends activities of political parties or again restarts the flawed International Crimes Tribunal.”
The letter further said, “The Department of State and many other international observers noted that the 2018 and 2024 General Elections were not free or fair. And in a February fact-finding report, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights estimated that security services killed 1,400 people during protests in July and August 2024.
Genuine accountability for these acts and others should model the values of Bangladesh’s democracy, rather than continue a cycle of retaliation.
Freedom of association, as well as the principle of individual rather than collective criminal responsibility, are fundamental human rights. We are concerned that the decision to fully suspend the activity of any one political party, rather than focus on persons determined to have committed crimes or gross violations of human rights through the due process of law, is inconsistent with those principles.
We hope your government or an elected successor will revisit this decision. Ultimately, the Bangladeshi people deserve to be able to choose an elected government in a free and fair election in which all political parties can participate so that their voices are represented.
Bangladesh is a critical partner for the United States, and we stand ready to work with you and your government to support both our bilateral relationship and Bangladesh’s democratic transition in the months ahead.”