Bangladeshi expatriate in Dubai paid an opposition party for nomination: Hasina

Prime Minster Sheikh Hasina has said a Bangladeshi expatriate in Dubai had paid money to an opposition party to run for parliament in the Dec 30 polls.

The aspirant was ‘very upset’ when he found that he would not be able to submit his nomination papers at the Embassy of Bangladesh in the United Arab Emirates, she told Dubai-based Gulf News on Tuesday.   

She said the embassy informed the Election Commission about the matter.

“They [opposition party] nominated someone who lives in Dubai. He went to our embassy [in Abu Dhabi] to submit his nomination papers [but] they said we [embassy] cannot accept nomination and you should submit it to the returning officer [in Bangladesh],” Hasina said in the interview.

“That gentleman [Dubai expat] became very upset at one stage and said I paid so much money to so and so in London…they told me I can submit my nomination papers here [embassy in UAE],” she added.

She described this as an example of the opposition’s inefficiency. “This is the way they conducted the election [strategy/campaign,]”

She was responding to a question about alleged irregularities in elections that gave her party a landslide victory for a third consecutive term, according to the Gulf News.   

The opposition parties were not at all serious about the elections, she told the Middle Eastern news publisher.

“They nominated around 900 people – about 2- 3 people in one seat. If you nominate two-three people for a seat, how will you win?”

Hasina also alleged that her rival party the BNP and its allies “antagonised all sections of the society, which led to declaration of emergency in the country, after they won the 2001-elections.

The prime minister returned from the UAE on Wednesday after a six-day foreign trip, first after the general election.

She joined the Munich Security Conference in Germany and visited the International Defence Exhibition 2019 in Abu Dhabi during the trip.    

INDIA CITIZENSHIP BILL FOR ELECTION PURPOSE? 

In another report, the Gulf News said Hasina told the newspaper that she did not understand the purpose of the Citizenship Amendment Bill passed by India’s lower house of parliament.

The bill meant to give Indian citizenship to minorities that faced “religious persecution” in neighbouring countries, including Bangladesh.

“Why this bill…I don’t understand,” she told Gulf News in the interview in the UAE capital.

“Is it for election purpose?” she asked with a smile.

She never felt that the bill meant to blame Bangladesh for religious persecution of minorities in the country, she said.

“I don’t think so. There is no such [religious persecution] in Bangladesh. Some incidents have happened. But we took immediate action,” Hasina said.

ROHINGYA

Speaking about the Rohingya crisis, Hasina renewed her call for international efforts for the safe return of the refugees to their homeland Myanmar.

Although Bangladesh continues to share “wonderful relationships” with its neighbouring countries, Hasina mentioned about tensions with Myanmar, owing to an estimated 700,000 Rohingyas who have fled the Rakhine State for Bangladesh since August 2017 to avoid ethnic and religious persecution.

“Bangladesh has opened its border for the Rohingyas out of humanitarian consideration. However, our position from the very beginning remained the same, which is, Rohingyas must be able to return to their homes in Myanmar,” she told Gulf News.

She alleged Myanmar was not taking any concrete action “towards ‘creating [a] conducive environment in the Rakhine State, or addressing the root causes of the Rohingya problem” despite agreements with Bangladesh for taking back the refugees.

“Clearly, the Rohingyas would only return if there is assurance of safety, security and dignity for them in Myanmar,” Hasina is quoted as saying.

She added that this requires sustained international pressure, especially in light of recent conflicts in Myanmar that have deepened apprehensions of a further exodus.

Among the measures she called for was holding Myanmar authorities responsible for their actions, and creating a civilian safe zone inside Myanmar that will be monitored by humanitarian actors.