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Tuesday Group terms Morshed remark 'a little bit strange'

STAFF CORRESPONDENT
Ambassador of the Netherlands Kees Beemsterboer yesterday, in response to Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan's comment on the Tuesday Group's move to hold an international conference in Dhaka, said, "We have no intention to interfere in domestic politics here, but to help Bangladesh."
Terming the foreign minister's comment "a little bit strange," the Dutch ambassador said, "Free and fair election is very crucial for Bangladesh and we want to help in the process."
"The foreign diplomats want to see a free and fair election and that's why we are interested in this subject," he added while addressing a roundtable discussion at city's Biam
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conference room jointly organised by two poll observer groups--Brotee and Fema.
Beemsterboer said the foreign minister as well as the government is well aware about the foreign envoys' move to hold an international conference on free and fair elections. "We have already met the government, the opposition, Election Commission and NGOs and offered our wish to help the electoral system of Bangladesh to make it more credible and fair," he said.
After the seminar, the Dutch ambassador confirmed that they are going to arrange an international conference in Dhaka likely in November or December. "Preparation of the conference is going on with the supervision of the Canadian High Commissioner," he told The Daily Star.
On the purpose of the conference, he said, "We will review situation in Bangladesh and discuss international elections principles and standards."
On Tuesday, Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan lashed out at the reported move by the Tuesday Group to hold an election seminar in Dhaka and categorically said the constitution of Bangladesh cannot be changed following demand of any other country.
"Foreign diplomats cannot bargain with a government like trade unions. Diplomacy is not a CBA job. No diplomatic norms allow a country to change the constitution of another country," he told reporters.
In that press briefing, Morshed also said, "I don't know about the Tuesday Group and its terms of reference, and don't know about the contents of their discussion. I've seen in newspapers that they are planning a seminar here."
However, it was learnt from a reliable source that in December 2004 the foreign ministry was first officially informed about the conference. Later in the first week of March this year, one of the envoys associated with the conference met the foreign minister and Law Minister Moudud Ahmed a few days later and informed both about the conference. The matter was also discussed with Foreign Secretary Hemayetuddin.
The Tuesday Group's move
The Tuesday Group comprising Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Republic of Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States as well as the European Commission ambassador and the United Nations resident co-ordinator is going to organise the high level election conference in Dhaka likely in November or December.
The initiative has been taken with a view to facilitating a free and fair outcome at the next parliamentary elections in Bangladesh. The conference is expected to include more than 400 guests, both domestic and international, representing parliament, government, political party, civil society, business community and the media.
The conference, primarily technical in nature, will deal with the issues that include development of a reliable and transparent voters' list, listing and standards of conducts for election candidates, and management of polling centres.
Recently, a similar conference on holding fair election, monitoring and role of the election commission was held in Islamabad, Pakistan. The European Commission, the Commonwealth Secretariat, and delegates from Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh attended the conference sponsored by the British High Commission.