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Solution to Crisis

Mozena still optimistic

Staff Correspondent
US Ambassador in Dhaka Dan W Mozena is confident that major political parties in Bangladesh will find a way out of the ongoing crisis to hold free and credible elections.
"Major parties must engage in political dialogue and 1 am very confident that the leaders will do it at the end to hold the elections the country deserves," he said yesterday.
Bangladesh has no need for outsiders to play that role, as there is no shortage of ideas, he told a luncheon meeting organised FROM PAGE 1
by the American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel.
Unlike diplomats from other countries, Mozena frequently travels to different towns outside Dhaka. In the two years of his ambassadorship in Bangladesh up until yesterday, he had visited two-thirds of the 64 districts.
President of the chamber Aftab ul Islam chaired the meeting, which was attended by politicians, jurists and top businessmen in the country.
Aftab opened the discussion with the business community's concern over the ongoing political crisis, saying it is the biggest impediment to the growth of the economy.
"Political confrontation is the biggest fear and threat for the private sector. It has slowed down economic activities," he observed.
The US envoy discussed a wide range of issues, including bilateral relations, Bangladesh's potential, the growing young generation, private sector and
regional connectivity. But the ongoing political deadlock in the run-up to elections was at the centre ofhis discussion.
Referring to Nisha Desai Biswal, US assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, who visited Bangladesh recently, Mozena said, "She delivered a very clear message that there is no room for violence in the democratic process.... Violence is not acceptable.
"But all parties must have political space to express their views freely and peacefully."
The diplomat said Bangladesh has enormous potential and young entrepreneurs, but the challenges of infrastructure, governance and political instability are all real. He believes, however, that all these problems can be solved.
He thinks Bangladesh's geographical location, which links South Asia with China and Southeast Asia, is a natural advantage.
"Bangladesh is in the middle of a nexus between Indo-Pacific economic corridors. The country is the greatest transit route of the 21 st century."