Bangladesh city polls: US calls for transparent probe

The US today called for a transparent probe into the alleged irregularities in the recently concluded mayoral elections in Bangladesh, as it expressed its disappointment over the allegations and the boycott of the polls by the main Opposition BNP.
"We were disappointed both by the irregularities and by the BNP's boycott midway through the polls," said US Under- Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman.
Sherman, who is in Dhaka for the fourth US-Bangladesh Partnership Dialogue, conveyed America's view to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during a meeting today.
"I am very grateful that (the) government is very forthright about what occurred, and now it is going to set about ensuring improvements in the way forward," she said.

"I think what everyone needs to focus on is to have transparent investigation of those irregularities and to set about making sure that next election is highly improved," said the senior US official.
Former prime minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which had boycotted the January 5 national polls last year over alleged rigging, announced their withdrawal midway from the polls in Chittagong and Dhaka on April 28.

The BNP alleged massive rigging by ruling Awami League (AL) activists, who, they said, ousted their polling agents from voting centres forcibly.
Independent observers, however, said the Opposition took little initiatives to field their agents in polling centres.

Prime Minister Hasina has blasted the BNP for withdrawing from the polls, calling their decision a "pre-planned drama" to destabilise the country after their nearly three months of violent street campaign that left some 130 people dead.
"They did it as they are looking for a new issue to affect the ongoing peaceful situation in the country...They don't want peace," Awami League's joint general secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif has said.