EU lawmakers urge Bangladesh to lift emergency

BANGLADESH: A group of European Union lawmakers has praised the efforts of Bangladesh's army-backed interim government to fight widespread corruption, but said it must lift the emergency imposed in January and hold national elections.

"We appreciate the initiatives taken by the caretaker government of Bangladesh to fight corruption, restore the order and reform the institutions, including political parties," the lawmakers said in a statement.

But the government must withdraw the emergency - imposed in the wake of widespread political violence - as soon as possible and arrange to hold parliamentary elections, the lawmakers said.

"For the sake of democracy, we urge the caretaker government of Bangladesh to urgently lift the state of emergency, which ... according to the Constitution, can run for a maximum of three months," the statement signed by 14 lawmakers said.

The EU lawmakers' call came as former prime minister Sheikh Hasina prepared to fly from London to face charges of murder and extortion after the interim administration lifted a ban on her homecoming last month. "She is coming back on Monday and we are ready to receive her," said Abdul Jalil, general secretary of Hasina's Awami League, said.

There were no plans to hold a public reception because of restrictions on rallies and gatherings, party leader Asaduzzaman Noor said.

The EU deputies also said the government must ensure respect of human rights by security forces and to use force only when necessary.

The government's law and information adviser Mainul Husein refused to comment on the EU statement but said Dhaka will follow it own counsel.

"We do not want to be dictated by any foreign bodies and so will make no comment," he told Reuters. Bangladeshis have generally supported the crackdown on politicians and officials and political commentators on Sunday urged the government to pursue the campaign to the end. "It is not time to lift the emergency," said Syed Mohammad Ibrahim, a retired army major-general.

"The achievements of the present government are praiseworthy. They have set in motion a process of reformation or purification in social, economical and political fields which will take time to mature." he said.

Earlier Hasina accused the government of betrayal and deliberate delay of elections ahead of her planned return to the country, a report said Sunday.

Hasina is expected to arrive in the capital Dhaka more than a week after the government scrapped plans to exile her, after earlier barring her return from the United States via Britain where she was refused permission to board a flight.

"The biggest betrayal was that they would not let me return to the country," Hasina said in an interview with the Bangladeshi New Age newspaper at her London residence. "I am literally seeing the betrayal unfold in front of my very eyes. I was shocked by the way they treated me."

The emergency government lifted a ban on Hasina's return last Wednesday and also abandoned plans to force the exile of the most recent prime minister, Khaleda Zia, who remains in Bangladesh.

"We also had hoped that elections would be held earlier than later," Hasina told the newspaper on Sunday.

"But what we see now is that not only have they not done anything substantive to hold the elections in the near future but they are also trying to delay the elections for as long as it takes."

Dhaka, Monday, Reuters, AFP