The US does not find the Jan 5 polls "very convincing", says its envoy Dan Mozena.
Published : 12 Jan 2014, 10:46 PM
Just after the Sheikh Hasina was sworn into office on Sunday, Mozena said the US looks forward to fresh elections.
He, however, told journalists at Bangabhavan that US would continue supporting Bangladesh on its way forward.
Mozena joined the ceremony with other diplomats.
“….We’re not very convinced that the results are a credible reflections of the will of the people of Bangladesh. So, we look forward to elections,” he said.
He called all parties to engage in dialogue “immediately” for holding credible elections as “soon as possible”.
The BNP did not join the Jan 5 elections resulting in more than half of the seats returning winners without a contest.
Awami League and BNP were at loggerheads over the nature of poll oversight and the dispensation that would ensure it.
Awami League-led government installed a multi-party interim cabinet but the BNP kept pushing for a non-party caretaker.
Soon after the elections, the US in a statement asked the two parties to engage in dialogue to find an agreed way of holding elections “as soon as possible”.
Sheikh Hasina took the oath of Prime Minister’s office for the second successive term along with her 29 ministers, 17 state ministers and two deputy ministers.